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Place dossier plate
SheetFL-POLK-CITY-FL · Polk City, FL 2,884 pop · income 65th 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 Polk City
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Polk City on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Mamou · lowest
19,841
Mamou · lowest
19,841 median HH income
7.9% of the leader · rank #1
Polk City · this city
83,333
Polk City · this city
83,333 median HH income
33.3% of the leader · rank #2
Clinton · near
83,333
Clinton · near
83,333 median HH income
33.3% of the leader · rank #3
McNabb · near
83,333
McNabb · near
83,333 median HH income
33.3% of the leader · rank #4
Homecroft · near
83,333
Homecroft · near
83,333 median HH income
33.3% of the leader · rank #5
Halbur · near
83,333
Halbur · near
83,333 median HH income
33.3% of the leader · rank #6
Chevy Chase · highest
250,001
Chevy Chase · highest
250,001 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 Polk City 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: 2,884.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Polk City places in the 65th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
65th
percentile, household income
63rd
percentile, home value
73rd
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: Polk City, FL
2,884 people live in Polk City, Florida - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $83,333 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 9.2%. Polk City's housing stock carries a median value of $287,600, and the median resident age is 40.5 years. Educational attainment runs 20.0% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 56.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 2 residential building permits were authorized in Polk City (Construction Slowdown), down 97% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data.
Florida carries a cost-of-living premium: the state registers 103.4 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Above Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,526 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $225 across Florida, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 75.7 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Polk City'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 population change to schools and households to work and mobility to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Polk City, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, local building permits, annual population history, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, 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 Polk City?
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 Florida, the closest population matches are Lake Helen (2,877 residents, $94,952 income); Olga (2,876 residents, $90,733 income); Westlake (2,876 residents, $140,000 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are San Andreas, CA (2,884 residents); Mamou, LA (2,884 residents); Chevy Chase, MD (2,884 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.
Is Polk City growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +308 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +11.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 2 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
What does the education layer cover for Polk City?
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. 20.0% 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Polk City?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 79.0%. 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.
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.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Polk City?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 9.2%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
3.5×
Home value
$287,600
Household income
$83,333
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Above median income · poverty 9.2% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
103.4 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Florida average
D
City profile score · Polk City, FL
43/100
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.
Household income C+
$83,333
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate D
9.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
20.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living F
103.4 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Polk City profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 63/100 (C+) · $83,333
Poverty rate: 43/100 (D) · 9.2%
Bachelor's+ share: 34/100 (F) · 20.0%
Cost of living: 25/100 (F) · 103.4 index
How does Polk City compare to other US cities?
Where Polk City sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income65% higher than other cities
Home value63% pricier than other cities
Median rent73% 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 Polk City against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Florida only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Florida-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Polk City near the bottom of Florida's cities
Among the 930 Florida cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Polk City ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Polk City only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#282 of 903
69th percentile in Florida
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 930
0th percentile in Florida
Median Home Value
#467 of 894
48th percentile in Florida
Poverty Rate
#390 of 930
58th percentile in Florida
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#605 of 930
35th percentile in Florida
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 Florida only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
65th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Polk City's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$287,60037th percentilemore affordable than 37% 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
Polk City's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#8,786 of 15,516
More affordable than 43% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,109 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.5×, Polk City sits in the moderate band:
national rank #8,786 of 15,516 and #7,109 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
$83,333Polk City, FL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Polk City, FL median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Polk City, FL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)20.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)9.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)56.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,884
Median Income
$83,333
Median Home Value
$287,600
Median Age
40.5
Poverty Rate
9.2%
Labor force participation
56.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
20.0%
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
Polk City's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,774 residents
2021
2,968 residents
2022
3,013 residents
2023
3,063 residents
2024
3,082 residents
2025
3,082 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
2
housing units authorized
Single-Family
2
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.7
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
68
68
0
$8.8M
2020
76
76
0
$9.9M
2021
10
10
0
$2.7M
2022
13
13
0
$4.9M
2023
11
11
0
$2.3M
2024
2
2
0
$1.5M
Permit volume decreased 97% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
79.0%
Carpool
11.7%
Public Transit
0.7%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
7.6%
Other
1.0%
Based on 1,381 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Florida statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $225
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Florida at $225 (electricity about $145 , water and sewer about $55 ).
These are Florida statewide averages, not a meter reading for Polk City. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Florida's BEA cost-of-living index is 103.4 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Polk City is $1,526/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Florida statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 75.7 / 100 (High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Florida statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Polk City sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Polk City compares to similar-size Florida 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, 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.