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Place dossier plate
SheetIA-POLK-CITY-IA · Polk City, IA 5,833 pop · income 96th 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 Polk City
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Polk City on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Oelwein · lowest
49,821
Oelwein · lowest
49,821 median HH income
24.2% of the leader · rank #1
Lewisburg · near
162,958
Lewisburg · near
162,958 median HH income
79.2% of the leader · rank #2
Perry Park · near
162,971
Perry Park · near
162,971 median HH income
79.2% of the leader · rank #3
Purcellville · near
162,981
Purcellville · near
162,981 median HH income
79.2% of the leader · rank #4
Polk City · this city
163,000
Polk City · this city
163,000 median HH income
79.2% of the leader · rank #5
Bakerstown · near
163,095
Bakerstown · near
163,095 median HH income
79.3% of the leader · rank #6
Lake Bluff · highest
205,735
Lake Bluff · highest
205,735 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 Polk City 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: 5,833.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Polk City - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Polk City places in the 96th percentile for household income and the 92nd percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
96th
percentile, household income
76th
percentile, home value
11th
percentile, median rent
92nd
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: Polk City, IA
5,833 people live in Polk City, Iowa - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Polk City households earn a median of $163,000 annually, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 4.8%. Typical homes in Polk City are valued around $385,000, and the median resident age is 37.0 years. 47.2% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 77.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 49 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 48% from five years earlier. Polk City reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 320.3 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
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. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Iowa run around $212, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 39.7 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Polk City'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 comparison shortlist to population change 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 Polk City, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, commute-mode shares.
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.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Polk City?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.8%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Polk City?
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 Estherville (5,865 residents, $54,624 income); Oelwein (5,878 residents, $49,821 income); Asbury (5,949 residents, $130,071 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Eaton, CO (5,832 residents); Lake Bluff, IL (5,834 residents); Peoria Heights, IL (5,834 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.
Is Polk City growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +1,020 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +18.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 49 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 does the journey to work look like in Polk City?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 79.5%. 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.
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 Polk City?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 320.3 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 86% 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.
Total reported rate
320.3
Violent rate
30.5
Property rate
289.8
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
What does the education layer cover for Polk City?
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 47.2% 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
4.8%
Bachelor's degree+
47.2%
Matched public schools
2
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Top-decile income · poverty 4.8% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
87.8 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Iowa average
A
City profile score · Polk City, IA
87/100
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.
Household income A+
$163,000
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
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.
Violent crime A
31 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share A-
47.2%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate B-
4.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Polk City profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 100/100 (A+) · $163,000
Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
Violent crime: 89/100 (A) · 31 /100k
Bachelor's+ share: 81/100 (A-) · 47.2%
Poverty rate: 67/100 (B-) · 4.8%
Where Polk City sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Polk City'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 - Polk City highlighted among 13 peers.Read the chart values
Polk City, IA (this city): home $385,000, crime 320/100k
Eaton, CO : home $448,800, crime 858/100k
Lake Bluff, IL : home $739,400, crime 871/100k
Peoria Heights, IL : home $118,000, crime 3,474/100k
Attalla, AL : home $120,400, crime 3,957/100k
Mulvane, KS : home $168,900, crime 698/100k
Byron, GA : home $230,100, crime 1,227/100k
Estherville, IA : home $96,300, crime 585/100k
Oelwein, IA : home $96,800, crime 765/100k
Asbury, IA : home $312,400, crime 199/100k
Maquoketa, IA : home $126,800, crime 2,239/100k
Anamosa, IA : home $164,900, crime 674/100k
Red Oak, IA : home $91,600, crime 1,218/100k
How does Polk City compare to other US cities?
Polk City measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income96% higher than other cities
Home value76% pricier than other cities
Median rent11% pricier than other cities
Safety92% 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: Polk City ranks #26 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 Polk City 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 Polk City near the bottom of Iowa's cities
Among the 858 Iowa cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Polk City ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Polk City only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#3 of 845
100th percentile in Iowa
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Home Value
#12 of 849
99th percentile in Iowa
Poverty Rate
#490 of 858
42nd percentile in Iowa
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#42 of 858
95th 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
96th percentile nationally for median household income · 92nd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Polk City's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Polk City'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 Polk City's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$385,00024th percentilemore affordable than 24% 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
Polk City's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,291 of 15,516
More affordable than 79% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,014 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.4×, Polk City sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,291 of 15,516 and #3,014 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
$163,000Polk City, IA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Polk City, 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 Polk City, IA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)47.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)77.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
5,833
Median Income
$163,000
Median Home Value
$385,000
Median Age
37.0
Poverty Rate
4.8%
Labor force participation
77.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
47.2%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
320.3
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
30.5
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
289.8
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
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Polk City's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
5,610 residents
2021
5,820 residents
2022
6,166 residents
2023
6,456 residents
2024
6,513 residents
2025
6,630 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
49
housing units authorized
Single-Family
49
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
8.4
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
95
75
20
$27.5M
2020
87
77
10
$27.4M
2021
137
107
30
$43.8M
2022
115
93
22
$41.7M
2023
28
20
8
$10.7M
2024
49
49
0
$23.4M
Permit volume decreased 48% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
79.5%
Carpool
3.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.4%
Work from Home
17.1%
Based on 3,263 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 Polk City. 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 Polk City 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 Polk City sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Polk City 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.