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
SheetIA-ADEL-IA · Adel, IA 6,259 pop · income 76th 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 Adel
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Adel on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Oelwein · lowest
49,821
Oelwein · lowest
49,821 median HH income
38.3% of the leader · rank #1
Woodland Park · near
96,896
Woodland Park · near
96,896 median HH income
74.5% of the leader · rank #2
Burley · near
96,897
Burley · near
96,897 median HH income
74.5% of the leader · rank #3
Adel · this city
96,905
Adel · this city
96,905 median HH income
74.5% of the leader · rank #4
Loganville · near
96,905
Loganville · near
96,905 median HH income
74.5% of the leader · rank #5
Lewiston · near
96,912
Lewiston · near
96,912 median HH income
74.5% of the leader · rank #6
Asbury · highest
130,071
Asbury · highest
130,071 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 Adel 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: 6,259.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Adel - the verdict
Adel ranks in the 76th percentile for household income and the 76th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
76th
percentile, household income
68th
percentile, home value
11th
percentile, median rent
76th
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: Adel, IA
Adel is a small town in Iowa, home to 6,259 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Adel households earn a median of $96,905 annually, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 4.4%. Adel's housing stock carries a median value of $320,500, and the median resident age is 36.8 years. About 43.3% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 70.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 75 residential building permits were authorized in Adel (Building Boom), up 275% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Adel reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 714.6 incidents per 100,000 residents, below the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Living costs in Iowa run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Iowa scores 87.8 (Well Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $989 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $212 across Iowa, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Natural-hazard exposure scores 39.7 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Adel'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 work and mobility to comparison shortlist to housing and income to schools and households to reported crime to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Adel, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, local building permits, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares.
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
What does the journey to work look like in Adel?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 74.7%. 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Adel?
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.
Within Iowa, the closest population matches are Orange City (6,312 residents, $81,667 income); Independence (6,149 residents, $72,250 income); Maquoketa (6,105 residents, $56,039 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Taylor, PA (6,261 residents); Vero Lake Estates, FL (6,262 residents); East Rochester, NY (6,263 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Adel?
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 3.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.4%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 4 public schools within the city match. 43.3% 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.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Adel?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 714.6 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 69% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
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.
Total reported rate
714.6
Violent rate
76.0
Property rate
638.6
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +904 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +14.6% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 75 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.
2020 estimate
6,194
2025 estimate
7,098
Period change
+14.6%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
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 A+
87.8 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Bachelor's+ share B+
43.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime B+
76 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income B+
$96,905
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate B-
4.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Adel profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
Bachelor's+ share: 78/100 (B+) · 43.3%
Violent crime: 77/100 (B+) · 76 /100k
Household income: 75/100 (B+) · $96,905
Poverty rate: 69/100 (B-) · 4.4%
Where Adel sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Adel'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 - Adel highlighted among 27 peers.Read the chart values
Adel, IA (this city): home $320,500, crime 715/100k
Orange City, IA : home $245,300, crime 233/100k
Independence, IA : home $156,900, crime 820/100k
Maquoketa, IA : home $126,800, crime 2,239/100k
Asbury, IA : home $312,400, crime 199/100k
Oelwein, IA : home $96,800, crime 765/100k
Estherville, IA : home $96,300, crime 585/100k
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 Adel compare to other US cities?
Here's how Adel stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income76% higher than other cities
Home value68% pricier than other cities
Median rent11% pricier than other cities
Safety76% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at Iowa, Adel ranks #59 of 141 Iowa cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Adel against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Iowa only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Iowa-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Adel near the bottom of Iowa's cities
Among the 858 Iowa cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Adel ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Adel only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#69 of 845
92nd percentile in Iowa
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Home Value
#22 of 849
97th percentile in Iowa
Poverty Rate
#523 of 858
38th percentile in Iowa
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#53 of 858
94th percentile in Iowa
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 Iowa only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
76th percentile nationally for median household income · 76th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Adel's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Adel'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 Adel's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$320,50032nd percentilemore affordable than 32% 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
Adel's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#8,158 of 15,516
More affordable than 47% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#6,678 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.3×, Adel sits in the moderate band:
national rank #8,158 of 15,516 and #6,678 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
$96,905Adel, IA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Adel, IA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Adel, IA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)43.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)70.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
6,259
Median Income
$96,905
Median Home Value
$320,500
Median Age
36.8
Poverty Rate
4.4%
Labor force participation
70.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
43.3%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
714.6
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
76.0
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
638.6
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.
Schools
Total Schools
4
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Adel's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
6,194 residents
2021
6,353 residents
2022
6,582 residents
2023
6,641 residents
2024
6,939 residents
2025
7,098 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
75
housing units authorized
Single-Family
75
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
12
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
20
20
0
$6.0M
2020
48
48
0
$12.5M
2021
88
88
0
$26.1M
2022
39
35
4
$14.8M
2023
111
111
0
$39.3M
2024
75
75
0
$27.0M
Permit volume increased 275% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
74.7%
Carpool
3.7%
Public Transit
0.2%
Walk
4.1%
Work from Home
14.7%
Other
2.6%
Based on 3,134 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Iowa statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $212
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Iowa at $212 (electricity about $95 , water and sewer about $42 ).
These are Iowa statewide averages, not a meter reading for Adel. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Iowa's BEA cost-of-living index is 87.8 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Adel is $989/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Iowa statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 39.7 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Iowa statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Adel sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Adel compares to similar-size Iowa 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, 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.