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Place dossier plate
SheetCA-INDEPENDENCE-CA · Independence, CA 875 pop · income 41st 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 Independence
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Independence on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Coffeeville · lowest
26,389
Coffeeville · lowest
26,389 median HH income
23.9% of the leader · rank #1
Franklinton · near
64,053
Franklinton · near
64,053 median HH income
58.0% of the leader · rank #2
Independence · this city
64,063
Independence · this city
64,063 median HH income
58.0% of the leader · rank #3
Raymond · near
64,063
Raymond · near
64,063 median HH income
58.0% of the leader · rank #4
Mandaree · near
64,063
Mandaree · near
64,063 median HH income
58.0% of the leader · rank #5
Rice · near
64,063
Rice · near
64,063 median HH income
58.0% of the leader · rank #6
Lake Hughes · highest
110,438
Lake Hughes · highest
110,438 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 Independence 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: 875.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Independence lands in the 41st percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
41st
percentile, household income
59th
percentile, home value
88th
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: Independence, CA
California's Independence is a small town, with 875 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $64,063 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 1.1%. Typical homes in Independence are valued around $268,400, and the median resident age is 44.8 years. About 22.7% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 37.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 62.9°F with 5.4 inches of precipitation per year.
California carries a cost-of-living premium: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, California scores 110.7 (Well Above Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $2,053 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in California run around $275, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Natural-hazard exposure scores 88.7 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Very High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Independence'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 housing and income to comparison shortlist to climate and hazard context 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 Independence, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, annual population history; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Independence?
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. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 1.1%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Independence?
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 California, the closest population matches are Lake Hughes (875 residents, $110,438 income); Lake of the Woods (875 residents, $48,958 income); Camanche North Shore (877 residents, $60,467 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Essex, IA (875 residents); Princeton, IA (875 residents); Coffeeville, MS (875 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.
What physical conditions frame life in Independence?
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 62.9°F, with 5.4 inches of precipitation. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for California is 88.7 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.
What does the education layer cover for Independence?
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 2 public schools within the city match. 22.7% 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.
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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Independence?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 71.7%. 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
71.7%
Work from home
10.2%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 244 workers age 16+.
Below median income · poverty 1.1% (Very low poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
110.7 (US=100)
Highest-decile cost · BEA RPP 2024, California average
D
City profile score · Independence, CA
45/100
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.
Poverty rate A+
1.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share D
22.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income D
$64,063
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Cost of living F
110.7 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Independence profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 92/100 (A+) · 1.1%
Bachelor's+ share: 42/100 (D) · 22.7%
Household income: 41/100 (D) · $64,063
Cost of living: 6/100 (F) · 110.7 index
How does Independence compare to other US cities?
Here's how Independence stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income41% higher than other cities
Home value59% pricier than other cities
Median rent88% 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 Independence against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to California only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
California-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Independence near the bottom of California's cities
Among the 1,458 California cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Independence ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Independence only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#999 of 1,338
25th percentile in California
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,458
0th percentile in California
Median Home Value
#1,127 of 1,343
16th percentile in California
Poverty Rate
#1,164 of 1,450
19th percentile in California
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#810 of 1,458
44th percentile in California
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 California only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
41st percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Independence's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$268,40041st percentilemore affordable than 41% 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
Independence's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#11,212 of 15,516
More affordable than 28% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#8,696 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.2×, Independence sits in the moderate band:
national rank #11,212 of 15,516 and #8,696 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
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
$64,063Independence, CA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Independence, CA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Independence, CA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)22.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)1.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)37.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
875
Median Income
$64,063
Median Home Value
$268,400
Median Age
44.8
Poverty Rate
1.1%
Labor force participation
37.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
22.7%
Climate
Avg Temperature
62.9°F
Annual Precipitation
5.4"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
71.7%
Carpool
5.3%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
7.8%
Work from Home
10.2%
Other
5.0%
Based on 244 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
California statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $275
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across California at $275 (electricity about $150 , water and sewer about $70 ).
These are California statewide averages, not a meter reading for Independence. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
California's BEA cost-of-living index is 110.7 (Well Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Independence is $2,053/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to California statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 88.7 / 100 (Very High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a California statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Independence sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Independence compares to similar-size California 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.