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Place dossier plate
SheetIA-MISSOURI-VALLEY-IA · Missouri Valley, IA 2,685 pop · income 43rd 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 Missouri Valley
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Missouri Valley on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Summit · lowest
33,983
Summit · lowest
33,983 median HH income
30.0% of the leader · rank #1
Missouri Vall… · this city
64,844
Missouri Vall… · this city
64,844 median HH income
57.3% of the leader · rank #2
Fort Braden · near
64,844
Fort Braden · near
64,844 median HH income
57.3% of the leader · rank #3
Ravenna · near
64,844
Ravenna · near
64,844 median HH income
57.3% of the leader · rank #4
Mount Sterling · near
64,844
Mount Sterling · near
64,844 median HH income
57.3% of the leader · rank #5
Lawson Heights · near
64,844
Lawson Heights · near
64,844 median HH income
57.3% of the leader · rank #6
Baiting Hollow · highest
113,229
Baiting Hollow · highest
113,229 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 Missouri Valley 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: 2,685.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Missouri Valley - the verdict
Missouri Valley ranks in the 43rd percentile for household income and the 53rd percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
43rd
percentile, household income
20th
percentile, home value
11th
percentile, median rent
53rd
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: Missouri Valley, IA
Iowa's Missouri Valley is a small town, with 2,685 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Households in Missouri Valley report a median income of $64,844 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 4.2%. Missouri Valley's housing stock carries a median value of $126,500, and the median resident age is 38.8 years. 13.5% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 58.7% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 0 residential units authorized here in 2024 (No Permits). Missouri Valley reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 1283.5 incidents per 100,000 residents, below the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
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). Natural-hazard exposure scores 39.7 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Missouri Valley'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 population change to within-city variation to comparison shortlist to reported crime to housing and income to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Missouri Valley, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, annual population history, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
What does the education layer cover for Missouri Valley?
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 13.5% 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.
Is Missouri Valley growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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 -58 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.2% 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.
What can 5 Census tracts reveal inside Missouri Valley?
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Missouri Valley?
Within Iowa, the closest population matches are Kalona (2,679 residents, $72,766 income); Belmond (2,678 residents, $58,750 income); Hawarden (2,674 residents, $69,375 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Foley, MN (2,685 residents); Oronogo, MO (2,685 residents); Friday Harbor, WA (2,685 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.
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 Missouri Valley?
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 1283.5 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 44% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
1132.5
Violent rate
151.0
Total reported rate
1283.5
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
How far does income reach against housing in Missouri Valley?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.2%, 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.
Household income
$64,844
Home value
$126,500
Value / income
2.0×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What does the journey to work look like in Missouri Valley?
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 75.1%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.3%
Work from home
8.2%
Drive alone
75.1%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,213 workers age 16+.
Below median income · poverty 4.2% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
87.8 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Iowa average
C
City profile score · Missouri Valley, IA
58/100
5 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
4.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime C
151 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income D
$64,844
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
13.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Missouri Valley profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
Poverty rate: 71/100 (B) · 4.2%
Violent crime: 58/100 (C) · 151 /100k
Household income: 42/100 (D) · $64,844
Bachelor's+ share: 16/100 (F) · 13.5%
Where Missouri Valley sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Missouri Valley'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 - Missouri Valley highlighted among 25 peers.Read the chart values
Missouri Valley, IA (this city): home $126,500, crime 1,284/100k
Foley, MN : home $192,600, crime 1,549/100k
Oronogo, MO : home $186,300, crime 199/100k
Hawarden, IA : home $132,700, crime 190/100k
Eldora, IA : home $108,800, crime 2,764/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Missouri Valley compare to other US cities?
Where Missouri Valley sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income43% higher than other cities
Home value20% pricier than other cities
Median rent11% pricier than other cities
Safety53% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Iowa and the picture shifts: Missouri Valley ranks #94 of 141 Iowa cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Missouri Valley 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 Missouri Valley near the bottom of Iowa's cities
Among the 858 Iowa cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Missouri Valley ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Missouri Valley only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#439 of 845
48th percentile in Iowa
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Home Value
#377 of 849
56th percentile in Iowa
Poverty Rate
#540 of 858
36th percentile in Iowa
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#596 of 858
30th 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
43rd percentile nationally for median household income · 53rd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Missouri Valley's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Missouri Valley'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 Missouri Valley's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$126,500Among the most affordablemore affordable than 80% 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
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#1,476 of 15,516
More affordable than 90% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,415 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.0×, Missouri Valley sits in the affordable band:
national rank #1,476 of 15,516 and #1,415 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
$64,844Missouri Valley, IA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Missouri Valley, 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 Missouri Valley, IA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)13.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)58.7%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,685
Median Income
$64,844
Median Home Value
$126,500
Median Age
38.8
Poverty Rate
4.2%
Labor force participation
58.7%
Bachelor's Degree+
13.5%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1283.5
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
151.0
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1132.5
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.
Schools
Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Missouri Valley's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,674 residents
2021
2,685 residents
2022
2,661 residents
2023
2,646 residents
2024
2,624 residents
2025
2,616 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
1
1
0
$0.1M
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
Drive Alone
75.1%
Carpool
8.8%
Public Transit
0.3%
Walk
5.9%
Work from Home
8.2%
Other
1.7%
Based on 1,213 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 Missouri Valley. 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 Missouri Valley 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 Missouri Valley sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Missouri Valley 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, 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.