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Place dossier plate
SheetIA-NEWTON-IA · Newton, IA 15,696 pop · income 29th pct · 10 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 Newton
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Newton on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Whitewater · lowest
49,000
Whitewater · lowest
49,000 median HH income
27.3% of the leader · rank #1
Newton · this city
56,321
Newton · this city
56,321 median HH income
31.4% of the leader · rank #2
Lincoln City · near
56,322
Lincoln City · near
56,322 median HH income
31.4% of the leader · rank #3
Norwood · near
56,324
Norwood · near
56,324 median HH income
31.4% of the leader · rank #4
Good Hope · near
56,328
Good Hope · near
56,328 median HH income
31.4% of the leader · rank #5
Bradford · near
56,330
Bradford · near
56,330 median HH income
31.4% of the leader · rank #6
Springdale · highest
179,531
Springdale · highest
179,531 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 Newton 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: 15,696.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Newton - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Newton lands in the 29th percentile for household income and the 38th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
29th
percentile, household income
27th
percentile, home value
11th
percentile, median rent
38th
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: Newton, IA
15,696 people live in Newton, Iowa - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $56,321 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 6.4%. Typical homes in Newton are valued around $151,600, and the median resident age is 43.2 years. Educational attainment runs 18.8% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 57.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 15 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Slowing), down 21% from five years earlier. Newton reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 1774.4 crimes per 100,000 residents, below the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score). NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 48.6°F with 35.1 inches of precipitation per year and 28.7 inches of snowfall.
Living costs in Iowa run below the national norm: the state registers 87.8 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Well Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $989 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $212 across Iowa, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Commute times here average 20.1 minutes, with 78.4% driving alone and 7.4% 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 Newton'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 climate and hazard context to comparison shortlist to population change to within-city variation to work and mobility to reported crime to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Newton, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, local building permits, annual population history, commute-mode shares.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
How far does income reach against housing in Newton?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 6.4%, 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.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 48.6°F, with 35.1 inches of precipitation and 28.7 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Iowa is 39.7 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
Which cities make useful reference points for Newton?
Within Iowa, the closest population matches are Grimes (15,810 residents, $104,497 income); Indianola (15,918 residents, $78,125 income); Norwalk (13,610 residents, $94,583 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Whitewater, WI (15,705 residents); Prospect Heights, IL (15,681 residents); Fort Mohave, AZ (15,716 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.
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.
PlainCities matches 10 Census tracts to this city.
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 Newton growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -7 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -0.0% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 15 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
-0.0%
2025 estimate
15,741
2020 estimate
15,748
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What does the journey to work look like in Newton?
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 78.4%. The reported mean trip to work is 20.1 minutes.
Public transit
0.0%
Work from home
7.4%
Drive alone
78.4%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 7,378 workers age 16+.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Newton?
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 1774.4 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 22% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
1390.0
Violent rate
384.3
Total reported rate
1774.4
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
The NCES join finds 7 public schools within the city match. 18.8% 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.
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.
Matched public schools
7
Bachelor's degree+
18.8%
Poverty estimate
6.4%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Below median income · poverty 6.4% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
87.8 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Iowa average
D
City profile score · Newton, IA
47/100
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 C
6.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
18.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$56,321
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime F
384 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Newton profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
Poverty rate: 56/100 (C) · 6.4%
Bachelor's+ share: 31/100 (F) · 18.8%
Household income: 29/100 (F) · $56,321
Violent crime: 23/100 (F) · 384 /100k
Where Newton sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Newton'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 - Newton highlighted among 27 peers.Read the chart values
Newton, IA (this city): home $151,600, crime 1,774/100k
Whitewater, WI : home $211,800, crime 918/100k
Prospect Heights, IL : home $347,500, crime 747/100k
Indianola, IA : home $228,100, crime 1,745/100k
Norwalk, IA : home $275,700, crime 289/100k
Clive, IA : home $379,000, crime 1,375/100k
Oskaloosa, IA : home $128,900, crime 1,042/100k
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 Newton compare to other US cities?
Here's how Newton stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income29% higher than other cities
Home value27% pricier than other cities
Median rent11% pricier than other cities
Safety38% 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: Newton ranks #109 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 Newton 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 Newton near the bottom of Iowa's cities
Among the 858 Iowa cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Newton ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Newton only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#629 of 845
26th percentile in Iowa
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Home Value
#267 of 849
69th percentile in Iowa
Poverty Rate
#395 of 858
54th percentile in Iowa
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#392 of 858
54th 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
29th percentile nationally for median household income · 38th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Newton's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Newton'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 Newton's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$151,600Among the most affordablemore affordable than 73% 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
Newton's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#4,994 of 15,516
More affordable than 68% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#539 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 2.7×, Newton sits in the affordable band:
national rank #4,994 of 15,516 and #539 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
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
$56,321Newton, IA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Newton, 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 Newton, IA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)18.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)6.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)57.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
15,696
Median Income
$56,321
Median Home Value
$151,600
Median Age
43.2
Poverty Rate
6.4%
Labor force participation
57.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
18.8%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1774.4
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
384.3
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1390.0
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.
Climate
Avg Temperature
48.6°F
Annual Precipitation
35.1"
Annual Snowfall
28.7"
Schools
Total Schools
7
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Newton's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
15,748 residents
2021
15,693 residents
2022
15,722 residents
2023
15,650 residents
2024
15,713 residents
2025
15,741 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Slowing
Total Permits (2024)
15
housing units authorized
Single-Family
11
detached homes
Multifamily
4
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
19
17
2
$3.8M
2020
11
9
2
$2.7M
2021
14
14
0
$3.8M
2022
3
3
0
$0.8M
2023
12
12
0
$4.1M
2024
15
11
4
$4.8M
Permit volume decreased 21% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
20.1 minutes
Drive Alone
78.4%
Carpool
9.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
4.0%
Work from Home
7.4%
Other
1.2%
Based on 7,378 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 Newton. 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 Newton 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 Newton sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Newton 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, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.