City profile · Iowa · Census ACS 2023

Lewis, IA

Lewis's Census ACS profile: residents, income, housing, and the joined public-record layers available for this place.

465
Residents
$34,341
Median income
$60,700
Median home
$989
Median rent (state)
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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.

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See how it ranks

State rank, size-class rank, and four peer cities for Lewis.

Place dossier plate

Sheet IA-LEWIS-IA · Lewis, IA 465 pop · income 4th pct

POP-VILLAGE · INC-LOW · COL-BELOW · SAFE-UNK · RANK-BOTTOM · PHOTO-FINISH · HOME-LOW · BOOK-UNK

  • POP-VILLAGE 465
  • INC-LOW $34,341
  • COL-BELOW 87.8
  • SAFE-UNK Safety pending
  • RANK-BOTTOM 4th
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Middlesborough
  • HOME-LOW $60,700
  • BOOK-UNK Tracts pending

Nearest income peer: Middlesborough, KY (+ $8 income $)

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 Lewis

Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Lewis on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.

median HH income

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.

Source U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 5-Year Estimates As of 2026-08-08

Compare beyond this state

Nationwide peers by population, income

Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Lewis 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: 465.

4 peers

Similar household income

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS median household income. This city: $34,341. Population peers are excluded.

4 peers

Lewis - the verdict

Lewis ranks in the 4th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.

4th
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: Lewis, IA

Lewis is a small town in Iowa, home to 465 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Lewis brings in $34,341 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 8.1%. Lewis's housing stock carries a median value of $60,700, and the median resident age is 60.5 years. About 3.6% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 36.1% 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), down 100% from five years earlier.

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. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Iowa run around $212, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. 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 Lewis'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 housing and income to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.

For Lewis, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history, local building permits. 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

What does the journey to work look like in Lewis?

Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 88.0%. 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. 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.

Compare commute patterns →

2. Comparison shortlist

Which cities make useful reference points for Lewis?

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 Earling (466 residents, $44,375 income); Churdan (473 residents, $72,500 income); Badger (475 residents, $76,875 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Point Reyes Station, CA (465 residents); Salyer, CA (465 residents); Briny Breezes, FL (465 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.

Open a side-by-side comparison →

3. Housing and income

How far does income reach against housing in Lewis?

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 1.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 8.1%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.

Compare the housing trade-off →

Question 4

Is Lewis growing, shrinking, or holding steady?

Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -4 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.1% 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.

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.

See the national growth ranking →

Population

465 residents

Micro place (under 10k)

Median Household Income

$34,341 /yr

Lowest-decile income · poverty 8.1% (Above-median poverty)

Cost of Living Index (state)

87.8 (US=100)

Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Iowa average

City profile score · Lewis, IA

35/100

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 D
8.1%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.

Household income F
$34,341

Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.

Bachelor's+ share F
3.6%

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).

Lewis profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions) 4-axis radar comparing 1 series across Cost of living, Poverty rate, Household income, Bachelor's+ share. Cost of livingPoverty rateHousehold incomeBachelor's+ share 35 F
Lewis profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)
Read the chart values
  • Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
  • Poverty rate: 47/100 (D) · 8.1%
  • Household income: 0/100 (F) · $34,341
  • Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 3.6%

How does Lewis compare to other US cities?

Where Lewis sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.

Household income 4% higher than other cities
Home value 1% pricier than other cities
Median rent 11% 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 Lewis 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 Lewis near the bottom of Iowa's cities

Among the 858 Iowa cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Lewis ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Lewis only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.

Median Household Income
#841 of 845
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Home Value
#779 of 849
8th percentile in Iowa
Poverty Rate
#311 of 858
63rd percentile in Iowa
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#830 of 858
3rd 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.

4thIncome percentile
Gauge source note

4th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.

How Lewis's home value compares nationally

Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)

$60,700 Among the most affordable more affordable than 99% of 15,600 US cities

Show national distribution $0–$25,000: 5 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $25,000–$50,000: 54 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $50,000–$75,000: 352 US cities (2%). This entry sits in this band. $75,000–$100,000: 1,086 US cities (7%). Above this entry. $100,000–$125,000: 1,516 US cities (10%). Above this entry. $125,000–$150,000: 1,170 US cities (8%). Above this entry. $150,000–$175,000: 1,278 US cities (8%). Above this entry. $175,000–$200,000: 1,229 US cities (8%). Above this entry. $200,000–$225,000: 1,035 US cities (7%). Above this entry. $225,000–$250,000: 976 US cities (6%). Above this entry. $250,000–$275,000: 754 US cities (5%). Above this entry. $275,000–$300,000: 712 US cities (5%). Above this entry. $300,000–$325,000: 521 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $325,000–$350,000: 526 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $350,000–$375,000: 465 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $375,000–$400,000: 393 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $400,000–$425,000: 317 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $425,000–$450,000: 300 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $450,000–$475,000: 307 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $475,000–$500,000: 250 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $500,000–$525,000: 160 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $525,000–$550,000: 156 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $550,000–$575,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $575,000–$600,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $600,000–$625,000: 163 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $625,000–$650,000: 167 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $650,000–$675,000: 135 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $675,000–$700,000: 101 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $700,000–$725,000: 95 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $725,000–$750,000: 71 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $750,000–$775,000: 65 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $775,000–$800,000: 70 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $800,000–$825,000: 57 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $825,000–$850,000: 67 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $850,000–$875,000: 60 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $875,000–$900,000: 58 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $900,000–$925,000: 47 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $925,000–$950,000: 37 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $950,000–$975,000: 31 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $975,000–$1,000,000: 470 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $1,000,000–$1,025,000: 0 US cities (0%). Above this entry. Lewis $0 $1,025,000 every US city, bucketed by value

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

Lewis's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.8×

ACS median home value divided by median household income.

Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#921 of 15,516
More affordable than 94% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#893 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)

At 1.8×, Lewis sits in the affordable band: national rank #921 of 15,516 and #893 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

$34,341 Lewis, IA median household income (Census ACS)

Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Household income distribution - Lewis, IA Lewis, IA's median household income ($34,341) against the U.S. national quintile-share pattern. The Lorenz curve and quintile bars are national context, not Lewis, IA-specific shares. $ Household Income Distribution Lewis, IA median $34,341/yr, vs. U.S. national quintile pattern QUINTILE SHARE OF AGGREGATE INCOME Lowest 20% 3.4% Second 20% 9.2% Middle 20% 15.1% Fourth 20% 23.2% Top 20% 49.1% LORENZ CURVE cumulative income vs. population 100% 0% 100% pop. 0%
Lewis, 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 Lewis, IA.

Key socioeconomic indicators

Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+) 3.6%

Census ACS S1501, educational attainment

Poverty rate (households below FPL) 8.1%

Census ACS S1701, poverty status

Labor force participation (adults 16+) 36.1%

Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force

Population
465
Median Income
$34,341
Median Home Value
$60,700
Median Age
60.5
Poverty Rate
8.1%
Labor force participation
36.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
3.6%

Population Change

PEP vintage

Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025

See the fastest-growing cities →
350 residents355 residents360 residents365 residents 202020212022202320242025 358 residents 354 residents ▼ -1.1%
Lewis's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.
Read the chart as text
Period Population
2020 358 residents
2021 360 residents
2022 361 residents
2023 361 residents
2024 355 residents
2025 354 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
2019 1
2020 1
2021 0
2022 0
2023 0
2024 0

Permit volume decreased 100% from 2019 to 2024.

Commute Patterns

Commute source

How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023

Drive Alone
88.0%
Carpool
8.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
2.1%
Work from Home
1.4%

Based on 142 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 Lewis. 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 Lewis 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 Lewis sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.

How Lewis 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.

City Population Median Household Income
Lewis (this city) 465 $34,341
Earling 466 $44,375
Churdan 473 $72,500
Badger 475 $76,875
Census BPS 2024
Primary sources on this page

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.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Citation & verification links Data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCities

Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES. Joins use OMB Bulletin 23-01 / FIPS keys.

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Estimate caveats

ACS and UCR figures are citywide estimates with vintage lags; they do not replace a local visit, school visit, or insurance quote.

Editorial standards, provenance, and how to cite this page

Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

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