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Place dossier plate
SheetIA-SLATER-IA · Slater, IA 1,498 pop · income 69th 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 Slater
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Slater on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Catawissa · lowest
53,472
Catawissa · lowest
53,472 median HH income
48.9% of the leader · rank #1
Farmers Branch · near
87,702
Farmers Branch · near
87,702 median HH income
80.1% of the leader · rank #2
Slater · this city
87,708
Slater · this city
87,708 median HH income
80.2% of the leader · rank #3
Aurora · near
87,708
Aurora · near
87,708 median HH income
80.2% of the leader · rank #4
Nesika Beach · near
87,712
Nesika Beach · near
87,712 median HH income
80.2% of the leader · rank #5
Cranston · near
87,716
Cranston · near
87,716 median HH income
80.2% of the leader · rank #6
Lake Lorelei · highest
109,427
Lake Lorelei · highest
109,427 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 Slater 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: 1,498.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Slater lands in the 69th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
69th
percentile, household income
49th
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: Slater, IA
1,498 people live in Slater, Iowa - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Slater report a median income of $87,708 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 2.6%. Typical homes in Slater are valued around $222,000, and the median resident age is 39.0 years. About 34.0% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 72.7% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 8 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Rapid Growth), up 33% from five years earlier.
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. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $989 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Iowa's average monthly utility costs around $212 (state average). 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 Slater'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 schools and households to work and mobility to population change to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Slater, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, 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 Slater?
Within Iowa, the closest population matches are Oakland (1,500 residents, $72,500 income); Fairbank (1,509 residents, $100,172 income); Sanborn (1,510 residents, $56,477 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Catawissa, PA (1,498 residents); Franklin, TX (1,498 residents); Kirkland, IL (1,497 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 NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 34.0% 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 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Slater?
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 74.7%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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 +81 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +5.3% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 8 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 Slater?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.6%, 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
$87,708
Home value
$222,000
Value / income
2.5×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
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-
2.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income B-
$87,708
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share B-
34.0%
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).
Slater profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
Poverty rate: 81/100 (A-) · 2.6%
Household income: 67/100 (B-) · $87,708
Bachelor's+ share: 65/100 (B-) · 34.0%
How does Slater compare to other US cities?
Slater measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income69% higher than other cities
Home value49% 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 Slater 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 Slater near the bottom of Iowa's cities
Among the 858 Iowa cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Slater ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Slater only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#108 of 845
87th percentile in Iowa
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Home Value
#99 of 849
88th percentile in Iowa
Poverty Rate
#638 of 858
25th percentile in Iowa
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#87 of 858
90th 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
69th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Slater's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$222,000Among the most affordablemore affordable than 51% 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
Slater's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#4,158 of 15,516
More affordable than 73% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,736 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.5×, Slater sits in the affordable band:
national rank #4,158 of 15,516 and #3,736 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
$87,708Slater, IA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Slater, 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 Slater, IA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)34.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)2.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)72.7%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,498
Median Income
$87,708
Median Home Value
$222,000
Median Age
39.0
Poverty Rate
2.6%
Labor force participation
72.7%
Bachelor's Degree+
34.0%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Slater's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,536 residents
2021
1,563 residents
2022
1,573 residents
2023
1,596 residents
2024
1,607 residents
2025
1,617 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Rapid Growth
Total Permits (2024)
8
housing units authorized
Single-Family
8
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
5.3
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
6
6
0
$1.3M
2020
7
7
0
$1.6M
2021
12
12
0
$3.6M
2022
5
5
0
$1.5M
2023
5
5
0
$2.3M
2024
8
8
0
$2.4M
Permit volume increased 33% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
74.7%
Carpool
8.8%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.4%
Work from Home
14.7%
Based on 830 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 Slater. 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 Slater 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 Slater sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Slater 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, 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.