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Place dossier plate
SheetIA-CHEROKEE-IA · Cherokee, IA 5,157 pop · income 17th pct · 5 tracts
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 Cherokee
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Cherokee on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Camilla · lowest
26,720
Camilla · lowest
26,720 median HH income
21.8% of the leader · rank #1
Colorado · near
48,692
Colorado · near
48,692 median HH income
39.7% of the leader · rank #2
Cherokee · this city
48,693
Cherokee · this city
48,693 median HH income
39.7% of the leader · rank #3
Ellsinore · near
48,693
Ellsinore · near
48,693 median HH income
39.7% of the leader · rank #4
Alsace Manor · near
48,693
Alsace Manor · near
48,693 median HH income
39.7% of the leader · rank #5
Euclid · near
48,696
Euclid · near
48,696 median HH income
39.7% of the leader · rank #6
Sergeant Bluff · highest
122,610
Sergeant Bluff · highest
122,610 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 Cherokee 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: 5,157.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Cherokee - the verdict
Nationally, Cherokee sits in the 17th percentile for household income and the 83rd percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
17th
percentile, household income
17th
percentile, home value
11th
percentile, median rent
83rd
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: Cherokee, IA
Iowa's Cherokee is a small town, with 5,157 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Cherokee households earn a median of $48,693 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 18.6%. Cherokee's housing stock carries a median value of $119,400, and the median resident age is 44.4 years. Educational attainment runs 18.3% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 59.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 62 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Building Boom), up 933% from five years earlier. Cherokee reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 542.8 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Cherokee's yearly average temperature at 46.7°F with 31.2 inches of precipitation per year and 37.8 inches of snowfall.
Living costs in Iowa run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Iowa at 87.8 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). 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 Cherokee'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 population change to reported crime to comparison shortlist to housing and income to work and mobility to climate and hazard context to within-city variation to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Cherokee, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, local building permits, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, commute-mode shares.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
Is Cherokee growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -67 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.3% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 62 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 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.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Cherokee?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 542.8 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 76% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Cherokee?
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 Manchester (5,144 residents, $58,578 income); Windsor Heights (5,171 residents, $89,083 income); Glenwood (5,118 residents, $69,320 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Cut Off, LA (5,157 residents); Williamston, NC (5,157 residents); Camilla, GA (5,158 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.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
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 Cherokee?
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 2.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 18.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
2.5×
Home value
$119,400
Household income
$48,693
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What does the journey to work look like in Cherokee?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 82.0%. 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.
Drive alone
82.0%
Work from home
5.1%
Public transit
1.6%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 2,447 workers age 16+.
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 46.7°F, with 31.2 inches of precipitation and 37.8 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Iowa is 39.7 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.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
39.7
Annual precipitation
31.2 in
Mean temperature
46.7°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
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 3 public schools within the city match. 18.3% 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.
Poverty estimate
18.6%
Bachelor's degree+
18.3%
Matched public schools
3
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
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.
Violent crime D
213 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
18.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$48,693
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
18.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Cherokee profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
Violent crime: 46/100 (D) · 213 /100k
Bachelor's+ share: 29/100 (F) · 18.3%
Household income: 19/100 (F) · $48,693
Poverty rate: 16/100 (F) · 18.6%
Where Cherokee sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Cherokee'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 - Cherokee highlighted among 10 peers.Read the chart values
Cherokee, IA (this city): home $119,400, crime 543/100k
Williamston, NC : home $108,900, crime 7,569/100k
Camilla, GA : home $74,400, crime 1,679/100k
Bangor, PA : home $167,100, crime 1,135/100k
West Hazleton, PA : home $108,800, crime 948/100k
Smithville, TN : home $153,500, crime 1,650/100k
Manchester, IA : home $130,500, crime 1,247/100k
Windsor Heights, IA : home $251,800, crime 4,829/100k
Glenwood, IA : home $193,800, crime 728/100k
Iowa Falls, IA : home $106,300, crime 1,769/100k
How does Cherokee compare to other US cities?
Cherokee measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income17% higher than other cities
Home value17% pricier than other cities
Median rent11% pricier than other cities
Safety83% 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 Iowa alone, Cherokee ranks #46 of 141 Iowa 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 Cherokee 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 Cherokee near the bottom of Iowa's cities
Among the 858 Iowa cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Cherokee ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Cherokee only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#772 of 845
9th percentile in Iowa
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Home Value
#410 of 849
52nd percentile in Iowa
Poverty Rate
#65 of 858
92nd percentile in Iowa
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#416 of 858
51st 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
17th percentile nationally for median household income · 83rd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Cherokee's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Cherokee'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 Cherokee's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$119,400Among the most affordablemore affordable than 83% 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
Cherokee's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,756 of 15,516
More affordable than 76% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,402 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.5×, Cherokee sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,756 of 15,516 and #3,402 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
$48,693Cherokee, IA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Cherokee, 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 Cherokee, IA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)18.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)18.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)59.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
5,157
Median Income
$48,693
Median Home Value
$119,400
Median Age
44.4
Poverty Rate
18.6%
Labor force participation
59.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
18.3%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
542.8
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
213.3
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
329.6
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
46.7°F
Annual Precipitation
31.2"
Annual Snowfall
37.8"
Schools
Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Cherokee's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
5,189 residents
2021
5,135 residents
2022
5,115 residents
2023
5,160 residents
2024
5,134 residents
2025
5,122 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
62
housing units authorized
Single-Family
6
detached homes
Multifamily
56
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
12
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
6
6
0
$1.4M
2020
1
1
0
$0.3M
2021
2
2
0
$0.8M
2022
4
4
0
$1.5M
2023
2
2
0
$0.7M
2024
62
6
56
$7.5M
Permit volume increased 933% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
82.0%
Carpool
9.5%
Public Transit
1.6%
Walk
1.8%
Work from Home
5.1%
Based on 2,447 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 Cherokee. 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 Cherokee 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 Cherokee sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Cherokee 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, 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.