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Place dossier plate
SheetIA-FAIRFIELD-IA · Fairfield, IA 9,438 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 Fairfield
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Fairfield on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Jackson · lowest
48,292
Jackson · lowest
48,292 median HH income
28.6% of the leader · rank #1
Greenville · near
48,295
Greenville · near
48,295 median HH income
28.6% of the leader · rank #2
Queen City · near
48,295
Queen City · near
48,295 median HH income
28.6% of the leader · rank #3
Crestline · near
48,298
Crestline · near
48,298 median HH income
28.6% of the leader · rank #4
Fairfield · this city
48,302
Fairfield · this city
48,302 median HH income
28.6% of the leader · rank #5
Jesup · near
48,306
Jesup · near
48,306 median HH income
28.6% of the leader · rank #6
Madeira · highest
168,981
Madeira · highest
168,981 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 Fairfield 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: 9,438.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Fairfield - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Fairfield lands in the 17th percentile for household income and the 80th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
17th
percentile, household income
28th
percentile, home value
11th
percentile, median rent
80th
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: Fairfield, IA
Iowa's Fairfield is a small town, with 9,438 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The typical household in Fairfield brings in $48,302 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 9.8%. Fairfield's housing stock carries a median value of $152,900, and the median resident age is 40.5 years. About 51.2% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 54.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 1 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 98% from five years earlier. Fairfield reports a comparatively low crime rate: per-100,000 total crime stands at 627.0 in FBI UCR data, below the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 49.7°F with 38.4 inches of precipitation per year and 21.7 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). 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). 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 Fairfield'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 schools and households to housing and income to comparison shortlist to reported crime to climate and hazard context to population change to within-city variation to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Fairfield, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Fairfield?
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. 51.2% 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Fairfield?
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 3.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 9.8%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Fairfield?
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 Grinnell (9,527 residents, $64,426 income); Keokuk (9,748 residents, $49,340 income); Mount Pleasant (9,093 residents, $59,216 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Hailey, ID (9,439 residents); Ashland, NJ (9,437 residents); Wasilla, AK (9,435 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.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Fairfield?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 627.0 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 73% 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
627.0
Violent rate
140.5
Property rate
486.4
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
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 49.7°F, with 38.4 inches of precipitation and 21.7 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
38.4 in
Mean temperature
49.7°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
Is Fairfield growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -225 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.4% 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.
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.
2020 estimate
9,445
2025 estimate
9,220
Period change
-2.4%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What does the journey to work look like in Fairfield?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 56.8%. 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. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Drive alone
56.8%
Work from home
25.4%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 4,368 workers age 16+.
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 A
51.2%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime C+
141 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate D
9.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$48,302
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Fairfield profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
Bachelor's+ share: 85/100 (A) · 51.2%
Violent crime: 61/100 (C+) · 141 /100k
Poverty rate: 40/100 (D) · 9.8%
Household income: 18/100 (F) · $48,302
Where Fairfield sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Fairfield'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 - Fairfield highlighted among 11 peers.Read the chart values
Fairfield, IA (this city): home $152,900, crime 627/100k
Hailey, ID : home $574,500, crime 657/100k
Wasilla, AK : home $325,000, crime 2,871/100k
Steger, IL : home $134,100, crime 2,078/100k
Madeira, OH : home $463,600, crime 372/100k
Grinnell, IA : home $191,700, crime 1,407/100k
Keokuk, IA : home $93,700, crime 1,874/100k
Mount Pleasant, IA : home $145,600, crime 1,111/100k
Fort Madison, IA : home $95,900, crime 1,987/100k
Carroll, IA : home $184,100, crime 1,018/100k
Waverly, IA : home $215,200, crime 1,027/100k
How does Fairfield compare to other US cities?
Fairfield 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 value28% pricier than other cities
Median rent11% pricier than other cities
Safety80% 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, Fairfield ranks #51 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 Fairfield 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 Fairfield near the bottom of Iowa's cities
Among the 858 Iowa cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Fairfield ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Fairfield only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#776 of 845
8th percentile in Iowa
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Home Value
#263 of 849
69th percentile in Iowa
Poverty Rate
#246 of 858
71st percentile in Iowa
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#31 of 858
96th 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 · 80th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Fairfield's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Fairfield'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 Fairfield's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$152,900Among the most affordablemore affordable than 72% 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
Fairfield's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#7,519 of 15,516
More affordable than 52% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#6,224 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.2×, Fairfield sits in the moderate band:
national rank #7,519 of 15,516 and #6,224 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
$48,302Fairfield, IA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Fairfield, 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 Fairfield, IA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)51.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)9.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)54.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
9,438
Median Income
$48,302
Median Home Value
$152,900
Median Age
40.5
Poverty Rate
9.8%
Labor force participation
54.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
51.2%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
627.0
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
140.5
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
486.4
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
49.7°F
Annual Precipitation
38.4"
Annual Snowfall
21.7"
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
Fairfield's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
9,445 residents
2021
9,521 residents
2022
9,375 residents
2023
9,318 residents
2024
9,289 residents
2025
9,220 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
1
housing units authorized
Single-Family
1
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.1
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
41
3
38
$5.0M
2020
14
2
12
$2.1M
2021
17
3
14
$2.2M
2022
13
4
9
$1.7M
2023
9
3
6
$2.2M
2024
1
1
0
$0.7M
Permit volume decreased 98% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
56.8%
Carpool
7.7%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
5.4%
Work from Home
25.4%
Other
4.7%
Based on 4,368 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 Fairfield. 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 Fairfield 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 Fairfield sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Fairfield 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.