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-DOWS-IA · Dows, IA 544 pop · income 33rd 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 Dows
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Dows on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Argyle · lowest
30,114
Argyle · lowest
30,114 median HH income
24.9% of the leader · rank #1
Dows · this city
58,750
Dows · this city
58,750 median HH income
48.7% of the leader · rank #2
Dodge City · near
58,750
Dodge City · near
58,750 median HH income
48.7% of the leader · rank #3
Emmet · near
58,750
Emmet · near
58,750 median HH income
48.7% of the leader · rank #4
Horseshoe Lake · near
58,750
Horseshoe Lake · near
58,750 median HH income
48.7% of the leader · rank #5
Mechanicsville · near
58,750
Mechanicsville · near
58,750 median HH income
48.7% of the leader · rank #6
Twin Lakes · highest
120,699
Twin Lakes · highest
120,699 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 Dows 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: 544.
Nationally, Dows sits in the 33rd percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
33rd
percentile, household income
1st
percentile, home value
11th
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: Dows, IA
Dows is a small town in Iowa, home to 544 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Dows households earn a median of $58,750 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 0.0%. Dows's housing stock carries a median value of $56,200, and the median resident age is 37.0 years. About 19.2% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 66.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 1 residential building permits were authorized in Dows (Low Activity), per Census BPS data.
Living costs in Iowa run below the national norm: the state registers 87.8 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Well Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. 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. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 39.7 out of 100 (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Dows'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 housing and income to population change to work and mobility to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Dows, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, local building permits, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
How far does income reach against housing in Dows?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 0.0%, 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. 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.
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -12 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.3% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 1 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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 87.6%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Which cities make useful reference points for Dows?
Within Iowa, the closest population matches are Sabula (543 residents, $60,417 income); Emerson (547 residents, $47,426 income); Klemme (540 residents, $57,031 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Mad River, CA (544 residents); Argyle, GA (544 residents); Patoka, IL (544 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.
Below median income · poverty 0.0% (Very low poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
87.8 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Iowa average
B-
City profile score · Dows, IA
65/100
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.
Poverty rate A+
0.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better 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.
Household income F
$58,750
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
19.2%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Dows profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 100/100 (A+) · 0.0%
Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
Household income: 33/100 (F) · $58,750
Bachelor's+ share: 32/100 (F) · 19.2%
How does Dows compare to other US cities?
Where Dows sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income33% higher than other cities
Home value1% pricier than other cities
Median rent11% 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 Dows 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 Dows near the bottom of Iowa's cities
Among the 858 Iowa cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Dows ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Dows only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#566 of 845
32nd percentile in Iowa
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Home Value
#799 of 849
6th percentile in Iowa
Poverty Rate
#764 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#378 of 858
56th 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
33rd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Dows's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$56,200Among the most affordablemore affordable than 99% 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
Dows's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#31 of 15,516
More affordable than 100% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#31 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.0×, Dows sits in the affordable band:
national rank #31 of 15,516 and #31 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
$58,750Dows, IA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Dows, 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 Dows, IA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)19.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)66.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
544
Median Income
$58,750
Median Home Value
$56,200
Median Age
37.0
Poverty Rate
0.0%
Labor force participation
66.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
19.2%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Dows's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
525 residents
2021
520 residents
2022
515 residents
2023
516 residents
2024
515 residents
2025
513 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Low Activity
Total Permits (2024)
1
housing units authorized
Single-Family
1
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1.8
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
1
1
0
$0.1M
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
87.6%
Carpool
2.6%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.7%
Work from Home
6.6%
Other
2.5%
Based on 274 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 Dows. 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 Dows 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 Dows sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Dows 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, 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.