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Place dossier plate
SheetCO-WRAY-CO · Wray, CO 2,305 pop · income 31st 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 Wray
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Wray on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Cedaredge · lowest
41,944
Cedaredge · lowest
41,944 median HH income
32.8% of the leader · rank #1
Burton · near
57,315
Burton · near
57,315 median HH income
44.8% of the leader · rank #2
Wray · this city
57,318
Wray · this city
57,318 median HH income
44.8% of the leader · rank #3
Silver Creek · near
57,321
Silver Creek · near
57,321 median HH income
44.8% of the leader · rank #4
Cambridge Spr… · near
57,321
Cambridge Spr… · near
57,321 median HH income
44.8% of the leader · rank #5
Coatesville · near
57,323
Coatesville · near
57,323 median HH income
44.8% of the leader · rank #6
Macopin · highest
127,824
Macopin · highest
127,824 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, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Wray on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. 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: 2,305.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Wray - the verdict
Wray ranks in the 31st percentile for household income and the 97th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
31st
percentile, household income
44th
percentile, home value
68th
percentile, median rent
97th
percentile, safety
📝 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: Wray, CO
Colorado's Wray is a small town, with 2,305 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Wray households earn a median of $57,318 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 14.9%. Wray's housing stock carries a median value of $205,900, and the median resident age is 39.0 years. Educational attainment runs 24.5% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 60.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 12 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Building Boom), up 1100% from five years earlier. Wray reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 129.9 incidents per 100,000 residents, below the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Wray's yearly average temperature at 51.2°F with 18.4 inches of precipitation per year and 28.1 inches of snowfall.
Colorado carries a cost-of-living premium: the state registers 103.1 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Above Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,429 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Colorado run around $202, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Natural-hazard exposure scores 40.7 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Wray'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 reported crime to climate and hazard context to work and mobility to population change to schools and households to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Wray, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares, local building permits, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Wray?
Within Colorado, the closest population matches are Center (2,312 residents, $50,057 income); Aristocrat Ranchettes (2,335 residents, $87,604 income); Ault (2,270 residents, $79,654 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Macopin, NJ (2,305 residents); Topton, PA (2,305 residents); Apalachicola, FL (2,304 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.
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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 129.9 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 94% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 51.2°F, with 18.4 inches of precipitation and 28.1 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Colorado is 40.7 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.
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.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 85.2%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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.
Population change
Is Wray growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +26 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 12 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
+1.1%
2025 estimate
2,352
2020 estimate
2,326
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 24.5% 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.
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.
Matched public schools
2
Bachelor's degree+
24.5%
Poverty estimate
14.9%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
How far does income reach against housing in Wray?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.6 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 14.9%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
Household income
$57,318
Home value
$205,900
Value / income
3.6×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Below median income · poverty 14.9% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
103.1 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Colorado average
D
City profile score · Wray, CO
42/100
5 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.
Violent crime A
43 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share D
24.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$57,318
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Cost of living F
103.1 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
14.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Wray profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 86/100 (A) · 43 /100k
Bachelor's+ share: 47/100 (D) · 24.5%
Household income: 31/100 (F) · $57,318
Cost of living: 26/100 (F) · 103.1 index
Poverty rate: 23/100 (F) · 14.9%
Where Wray sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Wray's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Wray highlighted among 25 peers.Read the chart values
Wray, CO (this city): home $205,900, crime 130/100k
Center, CO : home $115,600, crime 416/100k
Ault, CO : home $330,200, crime 1,444/100k
Holyoke, CO : home $260,000, crime 176/100k
Cedaredge, CO : home $240,300, crime 897/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Wray compare to other US cities?
Wray measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income31% higher than other cities
Home value44% pricier than other cities
Median rent68% pricier than other cities
Safety97% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to Colorado alone, Wray ranks #2 of 116 Colorado cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Wray against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Colorado only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Colorado-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Wray near the bottom of Colorado's cities
Among the 408 Colorado cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Wray ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Wray only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#282 of 379
26th percentile in Colorado
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 408
0th percentile in Colorado
Median Home Value
#306 of 388
21st percentile in Colorado
Poverty Rate
#61 of 408
85th percentile in Colorado
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#251 of 408
38th percentile in Colorado
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 Colorado only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
31st percentile nationally for median household income · 97th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Wray's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Wray's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Wray's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$205,900Among the most affordablemore affordable than 56% 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
Wray's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.6×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,335 of 15,516
More affordable than 40% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,490 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.6×, Wray sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,335 of 15,516 and #7,490 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
$57,318Wray, CO median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Wray, CO median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Wray, CO.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)24.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)14.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)60.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,305
Median Income
$57,318
Median Home Value
$205,900
Median Age
39.0
Poverty Rate
14.9%
Labor force participation
60.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
24.5%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
129.9
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
43.3
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
86.6
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Climate
Avg Temperature
51.2°F
Annual Precipitation
18.4"
Annual Snowfall
28.1"
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Wray's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,326 residents
2021
2,298 residents
2022
2,296 residents
2023
2,314 residents
2024
2,326 residents
2025
2,352 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
12
housing units authorized
Single-Family
12
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
5.2
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
1
1
0
$0.3M
2020
1
1
0
$0.3M
2021
1
1
0
$0.3M
2022
18
18
0
$3.1M
2023
10
10
0
$1.7M
2024
12
12
0
$2.0M
Permit volume increased 1100% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
85.2%
Carpool
5.4%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.2%
Work from Home
4.7%
Other
1.5%
Based on 996 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Colorado statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $202
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Colorado at $202 (electricity about $90 , water and sewer about $50 ).
These are Colorado statewide averages, not a meter reading for Wray. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Colorado's BEA cost-of-living index is 103.1 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Wray is $1,429/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Colorado statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 40.7 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Colorado statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Wray sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Wray compares to similar-size Colorado 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, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, 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.