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Place dossier plate
SheetIA-MONTPELIER-IA · Montpelier, IA 228 pop · income 48th 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 Montpelier
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Montpelier on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Sanford · lowest
28,393
Sanford · lowest
28,393 median HH income
34.1% of the leader · rank #1
Legend Lake · near
69,178
Legend Lake · near
69,178 median HH income
83.0% of the leader · rank #2
Montpelier · this city
69,186
Montpelier · this city
69,186 median HH income
83.0% of the leader · rank #3
Rosston · near
69,191
Rosston · near
69,191 median HH income
83.0% of the leader · rank #4
Ellenton · near
69,191
Ellenton · near
69,191 median HH income
83.0% of the leader · rank #5
Thunderbolt · near
69,191
Thunderbolt · near
69,191 median HH income
83.0% of the leader · rank #6
McNabb · highest
83,333
McNabb · highest
83,333 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 Montpelier 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: 228.
Nationally, Montpelier sits in the 48th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
48th
percentile, household income
56th
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: Montpelier, IA
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 228 residents in Montpelier, a small town within Iowa. Households in Montpelier report a median income of $69,186 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 0.0%. Home values in Montpelier run a median of $253,500, and the median resident age is 58.9 years. Educational attainment runs 11.4% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 53.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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 9.8 minutes, with 58.7% driving alone and 41.3% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. 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 Montpelier'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 comparison shortlist to work and mobility to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Montpelier, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, matched public-school count, annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Montpelier?
Within Iowa, the closest population matches are Williamson (228 residents, $53,438 income); Crystal Lake (229 residents, $82,500 income); Parnell (229 residents, $56,667 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Sanford, AL (228 residents); McNeal, AZ (228 residents); Long Point, IL (228 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 Montpelier?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 58.7%. The reported mean trip to work is 9.8 minutes.
How far does income reach against housing in Montpelier?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 0.0%, 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.
Below median income · poverty 0.0% (Very low poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
87.8 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Iowa average
B-
City profile score · Montpelier, 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.
Poverty rate A+
0.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
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.
Household income D
$69,186
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
11.4%
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).
Montpelier profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 100/100 (A+) · 0.0%
Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
Household income: 48/100 (D) · $69,186
Bachelor's+ share: 10/100 (F) · 11.4%
How does Montpelier compare to other US cities?
Where Montpelier sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income48% higher than other cities
Home value56% 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 Montpelier 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 Montpelier near the bottom of Iowa's cities
Among the 858 Iowa cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Montpelier ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Montpelier only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#346 of 845
59th percentile in Iowa
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Home Value
#67 of 849
92nd percentile in Iowa
Poverty Rate
#764 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#666 of 858
22nd 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
48th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Montpelier's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$253,50044th percentilemore affordable than 44% 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
Montpelier's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,595 of 15,516
More affordable than 38% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,653 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.7×, Montpelier sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,595 of 15,516 and #7,653 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
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
$69,186Montpelier, IA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Montpelier, 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 Montpelier, IA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)11.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)53.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
228
Median Income
$69,186
Median Home Value
$253,500
Median Age
58.9
Poverty Rate
0.0%
Labor force participation
53.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
11.4%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
9.8 minutes
Drive Alone
58.7%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
41.3%
Based on 121 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 Montpelier. 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 Montpelier 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 Montpelier sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Montpelier 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, 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.