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Place dossier plate
SheetIA-STEAMBOAT-ROCK-IA · Steamboat Rock, IA 235 pop · income 12th 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 Steamboat Rock
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Steamboat Rock on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Arlington · lowest
36,250
Arlington · lowest
36,250 median HH income
14.5% of the leader · rank #1
Steamboat Rock · this city
44,583
Steamboat Rock · this city
44,583 median HH income
17.8% of the leader · rank #2
Byromville · near
44,583
Byromville · near
44,583 median HH income
17.8% of the leader · rank #3
Osburn · near
44,583
Osburn · near
44,583 median HH income
17.8% of the leader · rank #4
Blue Mound · near
44,583
Blue Mound · near
44,583 median HH income
17.8% of the leader · rank #5
Morley · near
44,583
Morley · near
44,583 median HH income
17.8% of the leader · rank #6
Candlewood La… · highest
250,001
Candlewood La… · highest
250,001 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 Steamboat Rock 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: 235.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Steamboat Rock places in the 12th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
12th
percentile, household income
3rd
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: Steamboat Rock, IA
235 people live in Steamboat Rock, Iowa - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Steamboat Rock brings in $44,583 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 0.0%. Typical homes in Steamboat Rock are valued around $78,300, and the median resident age is 48.6 years. 17.5% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 57.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $989 per month. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Iowa's average monthly utility costs around $212 (state average). 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 Steamboat Rock'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 population change to comparison shortlist to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Steamboat Rock, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits; 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 Steamboat Rock?
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 1.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 0.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Is Steamboat Rock growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -5 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.9% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Steamboat Rock?
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 Burr Oak (234 residents, $62,813 income); Grafton (233 residents, $52,188 income); Maharishi Vedic City (233 residents, $62,813 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Almyra, AR (235 residents); Candlewood Lake Club, CT (235 residents); Worthington Springs, FL (235 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Steamboat Rock?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 60.7%. 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.
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.
Poverty rate A+
0.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
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.
Bachelor's+ share F
17.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$44,583
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Steamboat Rock profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 100/100 (A+) · 0.0%
Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
Bachelor's+ share: 27/100 (F) · 17.5%
Household income: 13/100 (F) · $44,583
How does Steamboat Rock compare to other US cities?
Where Steamboat Rock sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income12% higher than other cities
Home value3% 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 Steamboat Rock 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 Steamboat Rock near the bottom of Iowa's cities
Among the 858 Iowa cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Steamboat Rock ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Steamboat Rock only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#801 of 845
5th percentile in Iowa
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Home Value
#695 of 849
18th percentile in Iowa
Poverty Rate
#764 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#451 of 858
47th 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
12th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Steamboat Rock's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$78,300Among the most affordablemore affordable than 97% 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
Steamboat Rock's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#892 of 15,516
More affordable than 94% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#865 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.8×, Steamboat Rock sits in the affordable band:
national rank #892 of 15,516 and #865 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
$44,583Steamboat Rock, IA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Steamboat Rock, 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 Steamboat Rock, IA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)17.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)57.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
235
Median Income
$44,583
Median Home Value
$78,300
Median Age
48.6
Poverty Rate
0.0%
Labor force participation
57.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
17.5%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Steamboat Rock's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
265 residents
2021
265 residents
2022
263 residents
2023
261 residents
2024
261 residents
2025
260 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
60.7%
Carpool
5.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
9.4%
Work from Home
10.3%
Other
14.5%
Based on 117 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 Steamboat Rock. 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 Steamboat Rock 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 Steamboat Rock sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Steamboat Rock 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, 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.