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Place dossier plate
SheetIA-NORWALK-IA · Norwalk, IA 13,610 pop · income 74th 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 Norwalk
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Norwalk on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Newton · lowest
56,321
Newton · lowest
56,321 median HH income
32.6% of the leader · rank #1
Johnson Creek · near
94,552
Johnson Creek · near
94,552 median HH income
54.8% of the leader · rank #2
Salem Lakes · near
94,554
Salem Lakes · near
94,554 median HH income
54.8% of the leader · rank #3
Greenville · near
94,567
Greenville · near
94,567 median HH income
54.8% of the leader · rank #4
Norwalk · this city
94,583
Norwalk · this city
94,583 median HH income
54.8% of the leader · rank #5
Marmora · near
94,621
Marmora · near
94,621 median HH income
54.8% of the leader · rank #6
Hockessin · highest
172,695
Hockessin · highest
172,695 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 Norwalk 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: 13,610.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Norwalk - the verdict
Nationally, Norwalk sits in the 74th percentile for household income and the 93rd percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
74th
percentile, household income
61st
percentile, home value
11th
percentile, median rent
93rd
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: Norwalk, IA
13,610 people live in Norwalk, Iowa - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $94,583 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 1.0%. Home values in Norwalk run a median of $275,700, and the median resident age is 36.5 years. About 40.2% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 71.7% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 304 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Building Boom), up 50% from five years earlier. Norwalk reports a comparatively low crime rate: per-100,000 total crime stands at 288.7 in FBI UCR data, below the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
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. 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 Norwalk'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 population change to reported crime to schools and households to housing and income to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Norwalk, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, local building permits, annual population history.
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 journey to work look like in Norwalk?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 76.9%. 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. 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.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +2,143 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +16.7% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 304 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 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.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Norwalk?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 288.7 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 87% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Norwalk?
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.
Within Iowa, the closest population matches are Boone (12,445 residents, $67,269 income); Newton (15,696 residents, $56,321 income); Oskaloosa (11,492 residents, $62,172 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Hockessin, DE (13,608 residents); Miami Springs, FL (13,606 residents); Seabrook, TX (13,617 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.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Norwalk?
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.
The NCES join finds 5 public schools within the city match. 40.2% 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.
Poverty estimate
1.0%
Bachelor's degree+
40.2%
Matched public schools
5
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
How far does income reach against housing in Norwalk?
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.
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 1.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
2.9×
Home value
$275,700
Household income
$94,583
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Above median income · poverty 1.0% (Very low poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
87.8 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Iowa average
A-
City profile score · Norwalk, IA
81/100
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 A+
1.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share B+
40.2%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income B
$94,583
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime B-
109 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Norwalk profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
Poverty rate: 93/100 (A+) · 1.0%
Bachelor's+ share: 75/100 (B+) · 40.2%
Household income: 74/100 (B) · $94,583
Violent crime: 69/100 (B-) · 109 /100k
Where Norwalk sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Norwalk'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 - Norwalk highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
Norwalk, IA (this city): home $275,700, crime 289/100k
Seabrook, TX : home $332,000, crime 1,527/100k
Speedway, IN : home $209,400, crime 2,776/100k
South Charleston, WV : home $144,800, crime 6,009/100k
Port Neches, TX : home $231,000, crime 892/100k
Newton, IA : home $151,600, crime 1,774/100k
Oskaloosa, IA : home $128,900, crime 1,042/100k
Spencer, IA : home $178,300, crime 1,043/100k
Indianola, IA : home $228,100, crime 1,745/100k
How does Norwalk compare to other US cities?
Where Norwalk sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income74% higher than other cities
Home value61% pricier than other cities
Median rent11% pricier than other cities
Safety93% 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: Norwalk ranks #24 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 Norwalk 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 Norwalk near the bottom of Iowa's cities
Among the 858 Iowa cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Norwalk ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Norwalk only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#80 of 845
91st percentile in Iowa
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Home Value
#49 of 849
94th percentile in Iowa
Poverty Rate
#744 of 858
13th percentile in Iowa
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#65 of 858
92nd 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
74th percentile nationally for median household income · 93rd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Norwalk's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Norwalk'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 Norwalk's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$275,70039th percentilemore affordable than 39% 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
Norwalk's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#6,224 of 15,516
More affordable than 60% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#789 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 2.9×, Norwalk sits in the affordable band:
national rank #6,224 of 15,516 and #789 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
$94,583Norwalk, IA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Norwalk, 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 Norwalk, IA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)40.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)1.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)71.7%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
13,610
Median Income
$94,583
Median Home Value
$275,700
Median Age
36.5
Poverty Rate
1.0%
Labor force participation
71.7%
Bachelor's Degree+
40.2%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
288.7
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
109.1
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
179.6
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
5
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Norwalk's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
12,861 residents
2021
13,338 residents
2022
13,738 residents
2023
14,194 residents
2024
14,332 residents
2025
15,004 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
304
housing units authorized
Single-Family
304
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
22.3
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
202
202
0
$53.1M
2020
308
249
59
$67.1M
2021
291
291
0
$71.5M
2022
320
212
108
$62.9M
2023
195
195
0
$42.9M
2024
304
304
0
$67.8M
Permit volume increased 50% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
76.9%
Carpool
4.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.4%
Work from Home
16.0%
Other
1.5%
Based on 7,171 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 Norwalk. 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 Norwalk 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 Norwalk sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Norwalk 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.