Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetAK-RUBY-AK · Ruby, AK 180 pop · income 5th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Ruby
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Ruby on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Allakaket · lowest
24,688
Allakaket · lowest
24,688 median HH income
29.0% of the leader · rank #1
Van Buren · near
35,200
Van Buren · near
35,200 median HH income
41.3% of the leader · rank #2
Mount Vernon · near
35,202
Mount Vernon · near
35,202 median HH income
41.3% of the leader · rank #3
Ruby · this city
35,208
Ruby · this city
35,208 median HH income
41.3% of the leader · rank #4
Fisher · near
35,208
Fisher · near
35,208 median HH income
41.3% of the leader · rank #5
Clarksdale · near
35,210
Clarksdale · near
35,210 median HH income
41.3% of the leader · rank #6
Three Rocks · highest
85,208
Three Rocks · highest
85,208 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Ruby on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 180.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Ruby places in the 5th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
5th
percentile, household income
2nd
percentile, home value
70th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Ruby, AK
180 people live in Ruby, Alaska - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Ruby households earn a median of $35,208 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 26.3%. Typical homes in Ruby are valued around $72,900, and the median resident age is 52.0 years. 3.2% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 44.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
NOAA puts Ruby's yearly average temperature at 26.3°F.
Alaska tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Alaska scores 102.4 (Near Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,467 per month. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Alaska's average monthly utility costs around $271 (state average). FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 35.2 out of 100 (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Ruby's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from comparison shortlist to climate and hazard context to population change to housing and income to schools and households to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Ruby, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Ruby?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
Within Alaska, the closest population matches are Arctic (177 residents, $39,750 income); White Mountain (185 residents, $56,563 income); Old Harbor (186 residents, $31,250 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Faunsdale, AL (180 residents); Glenwood, AL (180 residents); Three Rocks, CA (180 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 26.3°F. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Alaska is 35.2 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -7 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -5.1% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
How far does income reach against housing in Ruby?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 26.3%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Ruby?
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 3.2% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
Poverty estimate
26.3%
Bachelor's degree+
3.2%
Matched public schools
1
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 37.3%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Drive alone
37.3%
Work from home
6.8%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 59 workers age 16+.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 26.3% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
102.4 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Alaska average
F
City profile score · Ruby, AK
8/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Cost of living F
102.4 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Poverty rate F
26.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$35,208
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
3.2%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Ruby profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 29/100 (F) · 102.4 index
Poverty rate: 4/100 (F) · 26.3%
Household income: 0/100 (F) · $35,208
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 3.2%
How does Ruby compare to other US cities?
Ruby measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income5% higher than other cities
Home value2% pricier than other cities
Median rent70% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Ruby against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Alaska only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Alaska-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Ruby near the bottom of Alaska's cities
Among the 228 Alaska cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Ruby ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Ruby only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#203 of 215
6th percentile in Alaska
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 228
0th percentile in Alaska
Median Home Value
#179 of 200
11th percentile in Alaska
Poverty Rate
#43 of 225
81st percentile in Alaska
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#193 of 228
14th percentile in Alaska
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Alaska only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
5th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Ruby's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$72,900Among the most affordablemore affordable than 98% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Ruby's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.1×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#1,904 of 15,516
More affordable than 88% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,812 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.1×, Ruby sits in the affordable band:
national rank #1,904 of 15,516 and #1,812 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$35,208Ruby, AK median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Ruby, AK median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Ruby, AK.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)3.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)26.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)44.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
180
Median Income
$35,208
Median Home Value
$72,900
Median Age
52.0
Poverty Rate
26.3%
Labor force participation
44.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
3.2%
Climate
Avg Temperature
26.3°F
Annual Precipitation
N/A
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Ruby's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
138 residents
2021
137 residents
2022
134 residents
2023
133 residents
2024
132 residents
2025
131 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
37.3%
Carpool
5.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
28.8%
Work from Home
6.8%
Other
22.0%
Based on 59 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Alaska statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $271
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Alaska at $271 (electricity about $131 , water and sewer about $45 ).
These are Alaska statewide averages, not a meter reading for Ruby. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Alaska's BEA cost-of-living index is 102.4 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Ruby is $1,467/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Alaska statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 35.2 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Alaska statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Ruby sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Ruby compares to similar-size Alaska cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.