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Place dossier plate
SheetIA-INDIANOLA-IA · Indianola, IA 15,918 pop · income 60th pct · 14 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 Indianola
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Indianola on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Americus · lowest
39,527
Americus · lowest
39,527 median HH income
30.2% of the leader · rank #1
Indianola · this city
78,125
Indianola · this city
78,125 median HH income
59.6% of the leader · rank #2
King Cove · near
78,125
King Cove · near
78,125 median HH income
59.6% of the leader · rank #3
Picacho · near
78,125
Picacho · near
78,125 median HH income
59.6% of the leader · rank #4
Cherry Valley · near
78,125
Cherry Valley · near
78,125 median HH income
59.6% of the leader · rank #5
Genesee · near
78,125
Genesee · near
78,125 median HH income
59.6% of the leader · rank #6
Clive · highest
131,082
Clive · highest
131,082 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 Indianola 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: 15,918.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Indianola - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Indianola places in the 60th percentile for household income and the 38th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
60th
percentile, household income
50th
percentile, home value
11th
percentile, median rent
38th
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: Indianola, IA
15,918 people live in Indianola, Iowa - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Indianola households earn a median of $78,125 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 3.5%. Home values in Indianola run a median of $228,100, and the median resident age is 35.2 years. 33.5% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 61.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 38 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 34% from five years earlier. Indianola reports a comparatively low crime rate: per-100,000 total crime stands at 1744.9 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 49.9°F with 37.8 inches of precipitation per year and 30.8 inches of snowfall.
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. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Iowa run around $212, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. 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 Indianola'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 population change to reported crime to within-city variation to climate and hazard context to housing and income to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Indianola, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares, local building permits.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Indianola?
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 73.7%. 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 Indianola?
Within Iowa, the closest population matches are Grimes (15,810 residents, $104,497 income); Newton (15,696 residents, $56,321 income); Norwalk (13,610 residents, $94,583 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Seymour, TN (15,914 residents); Americus, GA (15,910 residents); Red Oak, TX (15,909 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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Is Indianola growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +947 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +6.0% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 38 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
What can 14 Census tracts reveal inside Indianola?
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.
PlainCities matches 14 Census tracts to this city.
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 Indianola?
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.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1744.9 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 23% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
1471.7
Violent rate
273.2
Total reported rate
1744.9
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 49.9°F, with 37.8 inches of precipitation and 30.8 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.
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.
Mean temperature
49.9°F
Annual precipitation
37.8 in
FEMA risk index (state avg)
39.7
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
How far does income reach against housing in Indianola?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 3.5%, 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. 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.
Household income
$78,125
Home value
$228,100
Value / income
2.9×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What does the education layer cover for Indianola?
The NCES join finds 6 public schools within the city match. 33.5% 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.
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.
Matched public schools
6
Bachelor's degree+
33.5%
Poverty estimate
3.5%
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.
Poverty rate B+
3.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share C+
33.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income C
$78,125
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime F
273 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Indianola profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
Poverty rate: 75/100 (B+) · 3.5%
Bachelor's+ share: 64/100 (C+) · 33.5%
Household income: 58/100 (C) · $78,125
Violent crime: 37/100 (F) · 273 /100k
Where Indianola sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Indianola'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 - Indianola highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
Indianola, IA (this city): home $228,100, crime 1,745/100k
Americus, GA : home $113,500, crime 5,585/100k
Red Oak, TX : home $318,200, crime 2,276/100k
Chubbuck, ID : home $313,700, crime 2,952/100k
Newton, IA : home $151,600, crime 1,774/100k
Norwalk, IA : home $275,700, crime 289/100k
Clive, IA : home $379,000, crime 1,375/100k
Oskaloosa, IA : home $128,900, crime 1,042/100k
How does Indianola compare to other US cities?
Where Indianola sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income60% higher than other cities
Home value50% pricier than other cities
Median rent11% pricier than other cities
Safety38% 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, Indianola ranks #107 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 Indianola 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 Indianola near the bottom of Iowa's cities
Among the 858 Iowa cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Indianola ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Indianola only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#205 of 845
76th percentile in Iowa
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Home Value
#91 of 849
89th percentile in Iowa
Poverty Rate
#584 of 858
31st percentile in Iowa
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#93 of 858
89th 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
60th percentile nationally for median household income · 38th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Indianola's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Indianola'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 Indianola's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$228,100Among the most affordablemore affordable than 50% 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
Indianola's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#6,248 of 15,516
More affordable than 60% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#797 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 2.9×, Indianola sits in the affordable band:
national rank #6,248 of 15,516 and #797 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
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
$78,125Indianola, IA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Indianola, 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 Indianola, IA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)33.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)3.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)61.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
15,918
Median Income
$78,125
Median Home Value
$228,100
Median Age
35.2
Poverty Rate
3.5%
Labor force participation
61.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
33.5%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1744.9
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
273.2
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1471.7
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
49.9°F
Annual Precipitation
37.8"
Annual Snowfall
30.8"
Schools
Total Schools
6
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Indianola's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
15,882 residents
2021
16,039 residents
2022
16,220 residents
2023
16,382 residents
2024
16,814 residents
2025
16,829 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
38
housing units authorized
Single-Family
38
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
2.4
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
58
56
2
$10.4M
2020
89
81
8
$17.4M
2021
115
65
50
$25.4M
2022
48
46
2
$17.3M
2023
59
55
4
$20.7M
2024
38
38
0
$12.0M
Permit volume decreased 34% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
73.7%
Carpool
7.0%
Public Transit
0.1%
Walk
6.4%
Work from Home
11.6%
Other
1.2%
Based on 7,619 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 Indianola. 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 Indianola 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 Indianola sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Indianola 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.