City profile · Iowa · Census ACS 2023

St. Donatus, IA

St. Donatus's Census ACS profile: residents, income, housing, and the joined public-record layers available for this place.

131
Residents
$41,813
Median income
$207,400
Median home
$989
Median rent (state)
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State rank, size-class rank, and four peer cities for St. Donatus.

Place dossier plate

Sheet IA-ST-DONATUS-IA · St. Donatus, IA 131 pop · income 9th pct

POP-VILLAGE · INC-LOW · COL-BELOW · SAFE-UNK · RANK-BOTTOM · PHOTO-FINISH · HOME-MID · BOOK-UNK

  • POP-VILLAGE 131
  • INC-LOW $41,813
  • COL-BELOW 87.8
  • SAFE-UNK Safety pending
  • RANK-BOTTOM 9th
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Sayre
  • HOME-MID $207,400
  • BOOK-UNK Tracts pending

Nearest income peer: Sayre, OK (+ $0 income $)

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 St. Donatus

Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest St. Donatus on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.

median HH income

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.

Source U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 5-Year Estimates As of 2026-08-08

Compare beyond this state

Nationwide peers by population, income

Out-of-state nearest neighbors for St. Donatus 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: 131.

4 peers

Similar household income

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS median household income. This city: $41,813. Population peers are excluded.

4 peers

St. Donatus - the verdict

Nationally, St. Donatus sits in the 9th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.

9th
percentile, household income
45th
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: St. Donatus, IA

Census ACS 2023 estimates count 131 residents in St. Donatus, a small town within Iowa. Median household income here is $41,813 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 10.7%. St. Donatus's housing stock carries a median value of $207,400, and the median resident age is 60.3 years. About 7.8% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 59.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.

Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 0 residential units were authorized in 2024 (No Permits).

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. 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 St. Donatus'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 housing and income to work and mobility to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.

For St. Donatus, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, local building permits, commute-mode shares. No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.

1. Comparison shortlist

Which cities make useful reference points for St. Donatus?

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.

Within Iowa, the closest population matches are Bridgewater (131 residents, $59,167 income); Calumet (131 residents, $53,125 income); Van Wert (131 residents, $58,750 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Elfrida, AZ (131 residents); Mount Hebron, CA (131 residents); Hawleyville, CT (131 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.

Open a side-by-side comparison →

2. Housing and income

How far does income reach against housing in St. Donatus?

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. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.

The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 10.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.

Compare the housing trade-off →

Question 3

What does the journey to work look like in St. Donatus?

Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 58.1%. 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. 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.

Compare commute patterns →

Question 4

Is St. Donatus growing, shrinking, or holding steady?

Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -2 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.6% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 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 downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.

See the national growth ranking →

Population

131 residents

Micro place (under 10k)

Median Household Income

$41,813 /yr

Lowest-decile income · poverty 10.7% (Above-median poverty)

Cost of Living Index (state)

87.8 (US=100)

Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Iowa average

City profile score · St. Donatus, IA

36/100

4 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 F
10.7%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.

Household income F
$41,813

Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.

Bachelor's+ share F
7.8%

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).

St. Donatus profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions) 4-axis radar comparing 1 series across Cost of living, Poverty rate, Household income, Bachelor's+ share. Cost of livingPoverty rateHousehold incomeBachelor's+ share 36 F
St. Donatus profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)
Read the chart values
  • Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
  • Poverty rate: 37/100 (F) · 10.7%
  • Household income: 9/100 (F) · $41,813
  • Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 7.8%

How does St. Donatus compare to other US cities?

St. Donatus measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.

Household income 9% higher than other cities
Home value 45% pricier than other cities
Median rent 11% 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 St. Donatus 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 St. Donatus near the bottom of Iowa's cities

Among the 858 Iowa cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, St. Donatus ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares St. Donatus only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.

Median Household Income
#818 of 845
3rd percentile in Iowa
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Home Value
#123 of 849
86th percentile in Iowa
Poverty Rate
#206 of 858
76th percentile in Iowa
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#758 of 858
11th 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.

9thIncome percentile
Gauge source note

9th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.

How St. Donatus's home value compares nationally

Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)

$207,400 Among the most affordable more affordable than 55% of 15,600 US cities

Show national distribution $0–$25,000: 5 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $25,000–$50,000: 54 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $50,000–$75,000: 352 US cities (2%). Below this entry. $75,000–$100,000: 1,086 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $100,000–$125,000: 1,516 US cities (10%). Below this entry. $125,000–$150,000: 1,170 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $150,000–$175,000: 1,278 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $175,000–$200,000: 1,229 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $200,000–$225,000: 1,035 US cities (7%). This entry sits in this band. $225,000–$250,000: 976 US cities (6%). Above this entry. $250,000–$275,000: 754 US cities (5%). Above this entry. $275,000–$300,000: 712 US cities (5%). Above this entry. $300,000–$325,000: 521 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $325,000–$350,000: 526 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $350,000–$375,000: 465 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $375,000–$400,000: 393 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $400,000–$425,000: 317 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $425,000–$450,000: 300 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $450,000–$475,000: 307 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $475,000–$500,000: 250 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $500,000–$525,000: 160 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $525,000–$550,000: 156 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $550,000–$575,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $575,000–$600,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $600,000–$625,000: 163 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $625,000–$650,000: 167 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $650,000–$675,000: 135 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $675,000–$700,000: 101 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $700,000–$725,000: 95 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $725,000–$750,000: 71 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $750,000–$775,000: 65 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $775,000–$800,000: 70 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $800,000–$825,000: 57 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $825,000–$850,000: 67 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $850,000–$875,000: 60 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $875,000–$900,000: 58 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $900,000–$925,000: 47 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $925,000–$950,000: 37 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $950,000–$975,000: 31 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $975,000–$1,000,000: 470 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $1,000,000–$1,025,000: 0 US cities (0%). Above this entry. St. Donatus $0 $1,025,000 every US city, bucketed by value

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

St. Donatus's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.0×

ACS median home value divided by median household income.

Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#12,814 of 15,516
More affordable than 17% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#9,707 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)

At 5.0×, St. Donatus sits in the moderate band: national rank #12,814 of 15,516 and #9,707 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000). Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.

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

$41,813 St. Donatus, IA median household income (Census ACS)

Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Household income distribution - St. Donatus, IA St. Donatus, IA's median household income ($41,813) against the U.S. national quintile-share pattern. The Lorenz curve and quintile bars are national context, not St. Donatus, IA-specific shares. $ Household Income Distribution St. Donatus, IA median $41,813/yr, vs. U.S. national quintile pattern QUINTILE SHARE OF AGGREGATE INCOME Lowest 20% 3.4% Second 20% 9.2% Middle 20% 15.1% Fourth 20% 23.2% Top 20% 49.1% LORENZ CURVE cumulative income vs. population 100% 0% 100% pop. 0%
St. Donatus, 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 St. Donatus, IA.

Key socioeconomic indicators

Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+) 7.8%

Census ACS S1501, educational attainment

Poverty rate (households below FPL) 10.7%

Census ACS S1701, poverty status

Labor force participation (adults 16+) 59.5%

Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force

Population
131
Median Income
$41,813
Median Home Value
$207,400
Median Age
60.3
Poverty Rate
10.7%
Labor force participation
59.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
7.8%

Population Change

PEP vintage

Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025

See the fastest-growing cities →
120 residents121 residents122 residents123 residents124 residents 202020212022202320242025 123 residents 121 residents ▼ -1.6%
St. Donatus's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.
Read the chart as text
Period Population
2020 123 residents
2021 122 residents
2022 121 residents
2023 121 residents
2024 121 residents
2025 121 residents

Housing Supply

BPS source

Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized

Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos

5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)

Year Total
2019 0
2020 0
2021 0
2022 0
2023 0
2024 0

Commute Patterns

Commute source

How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023

Drive Alone
58.1%
Carpool
12.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
10.8%
Work from Home
5.4%
Other
13.5%

Based on 74 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 St. Donatus. 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 St. Donatus 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 St. Donatus sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.

How St. Donatus 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.

City Population Median Household Income
St. Donatus (this city) 131 $41,813
Bridgewater 131 $59,167
Calumet 131 $53,125
Van Wert 131 $58,750
Census BPS 2024
Primary sources on this page

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, 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.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Citation & verification links Data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCities

Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES. Joins use OMB Bulletin 23-01 / FIPS keys.

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Estimate caveats

ACS and UCR figures are citywide estimates with vintage lags; they do not replace a local visit, school visit, or insurance quote.

Editorial standards, provenance, and how to cite this page

Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

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