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Place dossier plate
SheetIA-KANAWHA-IA · Kanawha, IA 805 pop · income 45th 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 Kanawha
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Kanawha on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Greendale · lowest
40,547
Greendale · lowest
40,547 median HH income
29.8% of the leader · rank #1
Gramercy · near
66,475
Gramercy · near
66,475 median HH income
48.8% of the leader · rank #2
Elkhart · near
66,477
Elkhart · near
66,477 median HH income
48.8% of the leader · rank #3
El Cajon · near
66,478
El Cajon · near
66,478 median HH income
48.8% of the leader · rank #4
Kanawha · this city
66,481
Kanawha · this city
66,481 median HH income
48.8% of the leader · rank #5
Austin · near
66,488
Austin · near
66,488 median HH income
48.8% of the leader · rank #6
Shueyville · highest
136,250
Shueyville · highest
136,250 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 Kanawha 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: 805.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Kanawha places in the 45th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
45th
percentile, household income
4th
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: Kanawha, IA
Kanawha is a small town in Iowa, home to 805 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Kanawha households earn a median of $66,481 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 4.3%. Kanawha's housing stock carries a median value of $79,900, and the median resident age is 34.4 years. About 26.9% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 69.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 0 residential units authorized here in 2024 (No Permits).
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). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $989 monthly. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Iowa's average monthly utility costs around $212 (state average). On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 39.7 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Kanawha'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 comparison shortlist to work and mobility to population change to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Kanawha, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, annual population history, local building permits, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
How far does income reach against housing in Kanawha?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.3%, 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Kanawha?
Within Iowa, the closest population matches are Lowden (804 residents, $54,773 income); Okoboji (806 residents, $59,167 income); Coggon (803 residents, $76,500 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Brooksville, KY (805 residents); Loretto, MN (805 residents); Greendale, MO (805 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Kanawha?
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 80.5%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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 -24 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -3.7% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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 Kanawha?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 26.9% 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 matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
Matched public schools
1
Bachelor's degree+
26.9%
Poverty estimate
4.3%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Below median income · poverty 4.3% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
87.8 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Iowa average
B-
City profile score · Kanawha, 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.
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
4.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share C-
26.9%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income D
$66,481
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Kanawha profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
Poverty rate: 70/100 (B) · 4.3%
Bachelor's+ share: 53/100 (C-) · 26.9%
Household income: 44/100 (D) · $66,481
How does Kanawha compare to other US cities?
Where Kanawha sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income45% higher than other cities
Home value4% 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 Kanawha 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 Kanawha near the bottom of Iowa's cities
Among the 858 Iowa cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Kanawha ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Kanawha only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#400 of 845
53rd percentile in Iowa
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Home Value
#681 of 849
20th percentile in Iowa
Poverty Rate
#530 of 858
37th percentile in Iowa
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#163 of 858
81st 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
45th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Kanawha's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$79,900Among the most affordablemore affordable than 96% 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
Kanawha's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#120 of 15,516
More affordable than 99% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#119 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.2×, Kanawha sits in the affordable band:
national rank #120 of 15,516 and #119 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
$66,481Kanawha, IA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Kanawha, 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 Kanawha, IA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)26.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)69.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
805
Median Income
$66,481
Median Home Value
$79,900
Median Age
34.4
Poverty Rate
4.3%
Labor force participation
69.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
26.9%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Kanawha's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
654 residents
2021
646 residents
2022
645 residents
2023
634 residents
2024
634 residents
2025
630 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
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
1
1
0
$0.7M
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
80.5%
Carpool
11.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
4.5%
Work from Home
3.1%
Other
0.9%
Based on 446 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 Kanawha. 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 Kanawha 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 Kanawha sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Kanawha 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, 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.