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Place dossier plate
SheetIA-LACONA-IA · Lacona, IA 307 pop · income 50th 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 Lacona
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Lacona on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Shirley · lowest
35,938
Shirley · lowest
35,938 median HH income
39.1% of the leader · rank #1
Cuyahoga Falls · near
70,645
Cuyahoga Falls · near
70,645 median HH income
76.9% of the leader · rank #2
Lacona · this city
70,647
Lacona · this city
70,647 median HH income
76.9% of the leader · rank #3
Carolina Fore… · near
70,647
Carolina Fore… · near
70,647 median HH income
76.9% of the leader · rank #4
Stanford · near
70,651
Stanford · near
70,651 median HH income
76.9% of the leader · rank #5
Ama · near
70,652
Ama · near
70,652 median HH income
76.9% of the leader · rank #6
Lester · highest
91,875
Lester · highest
91,875 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 Lacona 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: 307.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Lacona lands in the 50th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
50th
percentile, household income
7th
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: Lacona, IA
Lacona is a small town in Iowa, home to 307 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Lacona households earn a median of $70,647 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 5.5%. Home values in Lacona run a median of $92,500, and the median resident age is 53.6 years. 16.8% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 46.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 0 residential units were authorized in 2024 (No Permits).
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. 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). Commute times here average 36.9 minutes, with 82.8% driving alone and 5.7% working from home, per Census ACS commuting 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 Lacona'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 work and mobility to schools and households to comparison shortlist to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Lacona, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, annual population history.
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.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Lacona?
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 1.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.5%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
What does the journey to work look like in Lacona?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 82.8%. The reported mean trip to work is 36.9 minutes.
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.
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.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 16.8% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Lacona?
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.
Within Iowa, the closest population matches are Cantril (307 residents, $37,500 income); Halbur (307 residents, $83,333 income); Westside (307 residents, $65,000 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Shirley, AR (307 residents); City of Creede, CO (307 residents); Needmore, IN (307 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.
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.
Population change
Is Lacona growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -1 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -0.3% 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.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
2020 estimate
345
2025 estimate
344
Period change
-0.3%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Above median income · poverty 5.5% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
87.8 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Iowa average
C
City profile score · Lacona, IA
59/100
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 C+
5.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income C-
$70,647
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
16.8%
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).
Lacona profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
Poverty rate: 62/100 (C+) · 5.5%
Household income: 50/100 (C-) · $70,647
Bachelor's+ share: 25/100 (F) · 16.8%
How does Lacona compare to other US cities?
Where Lacona sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income50% higher than other cities
Home value7% 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 Lacona 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 Lacona near the bottom of Iowa's cities
Among the 858 Iowa cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Lacona ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Lacona only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#319 of 845
62nd percentile in Iowa
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Home Value
#592 of 849
30th percentile in Iowa
Poverty Rate
#449 of 858
47th percentile in Iowa
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#471 of 858
45th 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
50th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Lacona's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$92,500Among the most affordablemore affordable than 93% 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
Lacona's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#180 of 15,516
More affordable than 99% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#177 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.3×, Lacona sits in the affordable band:
national rank #180 of 15,516 and #177 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
$70,647Lacona, IA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Lacona, 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 Lacona, IA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)16.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)46.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
307
Median Income
$70,647
Median Home Value
$92,500
Median Age
53.6
Poverty Rate
5.5%
Labor force participation
46.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
16.8%
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
Lacona's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
345 residents
2021
344 residents
2022
341 residents
2023
341 residents
2024
345 residents
2025
344 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
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
36.9 minutes
Drive Alone
82.8%
Carpool
7.4%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
4.1%
Work from Home
5.7%
Based on 122 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 Lacona. 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 Lacona 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 Lacona sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Lacona 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.