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Place dossier plate
SheetIA-DENVER-IA · Denver, IA 2,216 pop · income 71st 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 Denver
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Denver on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Gassville · lowest
47,404
Gassville · lowest
47,404 median HH income
46.3% of the leader · rank #1
Franklin · near
90,152
Franklin · near
90,152 median HH income
88.0% of the leader · rank #2
Denver · this city
90,156
Denver · this city
90,156 median HH income
88.0% of the leader · rank #3
Manchester · near
90,156
Manchester · near
90,156 median HH income
88.0% of the leader · rank #4
Kitsap Lake · near
90,156
Kitsap Lake · near
90,156 median HH income
88.0% of the leader · rank #5
Alabaster · near
90,163
Alabaster · near
90,163 median HH income
88.1% of the leader · rank #6
Pegram · highest
102,396
Pegram · highest
102,396 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 Denver 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: 2,216.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Denver - the verdict
Denver ranks in the 71st percentile for household income and the 94th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
71st
percentile, household income
49th
percentile, home value
11th
percentile, median rent
94th
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: Denver, IA
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 2,216 residents in Denver, a small town within Iowa. The typical household in Denver brings in $90,156 a year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 3.0%. Typical homes in Denver are valued around $221,100, and the median resident age is 36.4 years. About 43.4% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 71.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Denver reports a comparatively low crime rate: per-100,000 total crime stands at 255.9 in FBI UCR data, below the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
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). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $989 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Iowa's average monthly utility costs around $212 (state average). 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 Denver'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 housing and income to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to schools and households to reported crime; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Denver, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, annual population history, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Is Denver growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +25 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.3% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Denver?
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 3.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Denver?
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 Hull (2,248 residents, $76,213 income); Bellevue (2,256 residents, $78,792 income); La Porte City (2,170 residents, $62,750 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Gassville, AR (2,216 residents); Garyville, LA (2,216 residents); Duquesne, MO (2,216 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 does the journey to work look like in Denver?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 84.9%. 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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Denver?
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. 43.4% 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
3.0%
Bachelor's degree+
43.4%
Matched public schools
4
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Denver?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 255.9 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 89% 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
255.9
Violent rate
0.0
Property rate
255.9
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
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+
0 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
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.
Poverty rate B+
3.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share B+
43.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income B-
$90,156
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Denver profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 97/100 (A+) · 0 /100k
Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
Poverty rate: 79/100 (B+) · 3.0%
Bachelor's+ share: 78/100 (B+) · 43.4%
Household income: 69/100 (B-) · $90,156
Where Denver sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Denver'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 - Denver highlighted among 24 peers.Read the chart values
Denver, IA (this city): home $221,100, crime 256/100k
Gassville, AR : home $126,600, crime 1,428/100k
Stallion Springs, CA : home $405,200, crime 571/100k
Sumner, IA : home $111,900, crime 148/100k
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 Denver compare to other US cities?
Here's how Denver stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income71% higher than other cities
Home value49% pricier than other cities
Median rent11% pricier than other cities
Safety94% 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, Denver ranks #22 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 Denver 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 Denver near the bottom of Iowa's cities
Among the 858 Iowa cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Denver ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Denver only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#96 of 845
89th percentile in Iowa
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Home Value
#101 of 849
88th percentile in Iowa
Poverty Rate
#611 of 858
28th percentile in Iowa
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#52 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
71st percentile nationally for median household income · 94th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Denver's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Denver'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 Denver's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$221,100Among the most affordablemore affordable than 51% 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
Denver's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,758 of 15,516
More affordable than 76% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,404 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.5×, Denver sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,758 of 15,516 and #3,404 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
$90,156Denver, IA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Denver, 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 Denver, IA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)43.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)3.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)71.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,216
Median Income
$90,156
Median Home Value
$221,100
Median Age
36.4
Poverty Rate
3.0%
Labor force participation
71.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
43.4%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
255.9
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
255.9
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
Denver's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,929 residents
2021
1,943 residents
2022
1,953 residents
2023
1,957 residents
2024
1,960 residents
2025
1,954 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
84.9%
Carpool
1.6%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.4%
Work from Home
9.0%
Other
1.1%
Based on 1,105 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 Denver. 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 Denver 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 Denver sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Denver 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 ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.