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Place dossier plate
SheetIA-NORTH-LIBERTY-IA · North Liberty, IA 20,782 pop · income 80th 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 North Liberty
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest North Liberty on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Hammond · lowest
41,222
Hammond · lowest
41,222 median HH income
22.5% of the leader · rank #1
Summit View · near
103,910
Summit View · near
103,910 median HH income
56.7% of the leader · rank #2
Mount Prospect · near
103,911
Mount Prospect · near
103,911 median HH income
56.7% of the leader · rank #3
North Liberty · this city
103,933
North Liberty · this city
103,933 median HH income
56.7% of the leader · rank #4
Grahamsville · near
103,938
Grahamsville · near
103,938 median HH income
56.7% of the leader · rank #5
Leesburg · near
103,958
Leesburg · near
103,958 median HH income
56.7% of the leader · rank #6
North Bellmore · highest
183,250
North Bellmore · highest
183,250 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 North Liberty 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: 20,782.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
North Liberty - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, North Liberty lands in the 80th percentile for household income and the 87th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
80th
percentile, household income
65th
percentile, home value
11th
percentile, median rent
87th
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: North Liberty, IA
Iowa's North Liberty is a small city, with 20,782 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $103,933 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 1.8%. Home values in North Liberty run a median of $300,000, and the median resident age is 31.8 years. 53.3% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 77.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 134 residential building permits were authorized in North Liberty (Rapid Growth), up 44% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. North Liberty reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 466.8 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).
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. 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 North Liberty'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 comparison shortlist to work and mobility to population change to housing and income to reported crime; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For North Liberty, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares, annual population history, matched public-school count, local building permits.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the education layer cover for North Liberty?
The NCES join finds 7 public schools within the city match. 53.3% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for North Liberty?
Within Iowa, the closest population matches are Altoona (20,592 residents, $87,123 income); Clive (18,776 residents, $131,082 income); Coralville (22,846 residents, $66,508 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Louisville, CO (20,788 residents); North Bellmore, NY (20,776 residents); Hammond, LA (20,790 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.
What does the journey to work look like in North Liberty?
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 73.2%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Is North Liberty growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +1,475 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +7.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 134 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in North Liberty?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 1.8%, 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.
Household income
$103,933
Home value
$300,000
Value / income
2.9×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What can the FBI record say about safety in North Liberty?
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 466.8 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 80% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
397.5
Violent rate
69.3
Total reported rate
466.8
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
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 A
1.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share A
53.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income B+
$103,933
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime B+
69 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
North Liberty profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
Poverty rate: 87/100 (A) · 1.8%
Bachelor's+ share: 87/100 (A) · 53.3%
Household income: 79/100 (B+) · $103,933
Violent crime: 79/100 (B+) · 69 /100k
Where North Liberty sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
North Liberty'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 - North Liberty highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
North Liberty, IA (this city): home $300,000, crime 467/100k
Louisville, CO : home $835,000, crime 1,917/100k
Altoona, IA : home $257,300, crime 2,154/100k
Clive, IA : home $379,000, crime 1,375/100k
Coralville, IA : home $286,000, crime 2,197/100k
Muscatine, IA : home $146,900, crime 1,474/100k
Burlington, IA : home $115,800, crime 2,239/100k
Johnston, IA : home $346,200, crime 826/100k
How does North Liberty compare to other US cities?
Here's how North Liberty stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income80% higher than other cities
Home value65% pricier than other cities
Median rent11% pricier than other cities
Safety87% 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: North Liberty ranks #42 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 North Liberty 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 North Liberty near the bottom of Iowa's cities
Among the 858 Iowa cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, North Liberty ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares North Liberty only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#50 of 845
94th percentile in Iowa
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Home Value
#32 of 849
96th percentile in Iowa
Poverty Rate
#700 of 858
17th percentile in Iowa
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#23 of 858
97th 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
80th percentile nationally for median household income · 87th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
North Liberty's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
North Liberty'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 North Liberty's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$300,00035th percentilemore affordable than 35% 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
North Liberty's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#6,035 of 15,516
More affordable than 61% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#739 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 2.9×, North Liberty sits in the affordable band:
national rank #6,035 of 15,516 and #739 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
$103,933North Liberty, IA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context North Liberty, 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 North Liberty, IA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)53.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)1.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)77.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
20,782
Median Income
$103,933
Median Home Value
$300,000
Median Age
31.8
Poverty Rate
1.8%
Labor force participation
77.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
53.3%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
466.8
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
69.3
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
397.5
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
7
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
North Liberty's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
20,501 residents
2021
20,829 residents
2022
21,125 residents
2023
21,190 residents
2024
21,704 residents
2025
21,976 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Rapid Growth
Total Permits (2024)
134
housing units authorized
Single-Family
134
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
6.4
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
93
72
21
$22.8M
2020
117
113
4
$24.8M
2021
278
186
92
$59.8M
2022
126
126
0
$35.2M
2023
308
136
172
$62.0M
2024
134
134
0
$35.2M
Permit volume increased 44% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
73.2%
Carpool
11.9%
Public Transit
0.8%
Walk
0.6%
Work from Home
13.4%
Based on 11,536 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 North Liberty. 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 North Liberty 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 North Liberty sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How North Liberty 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.