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Place dossier plate
SheetIA-STORM-LAKE-IA · Storm Lake, IA 11,275 pop · income 33rd pct · 6 tracts
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 Storm Lake
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Storm Lake on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Anderson · lowest
50,306
Anderson · lowest
50,306 median HH income
42.3% of the leader · rank #1
Twin · near
58,333
Twin · near
58,333 median HH income
49.1% of the leader · rank #2
Dover · near
58,336
Dover · near
58,336 median HH income
49.1% of the leader · rank #3
Killeen · near
58,339
Killeen · near
58,339 median HH income
49.1% of the leader · rank #4
Storm Lake · this city
58,341
Storm Lake · this city
58,341 median HH income
49.1% of the leader · rank #5
Dickson City · near
58,343
Dickson City · near
58,343 median HH income
49.1% of the leader · rank #6
Whitestown · highest
118,884
Whitestown · highest
118,884 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 Storm Lake 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: 11,275.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Storm Lake - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Storm Lake lands in the 33rd percentile for household income and the 33rd percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
33rd
percentile, household income
31st
percentile, home value
11th
percentile, median rent
33rd
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: Storm Lake, IA
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 11,275 residents in Storm Lake, a small town within Iowa. The typical household in Storm Lake brings in $58,341 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 4.8%. Home values in Storm Lake run a median of $163,600, and the median resident age is 31.2 years. Educational attainment runs 18.9% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 65.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 153 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Building Boom), up 1813% from five years earlier. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 1966.2 crimes per 100,000 residents, near the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score). NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 47.1°F with 33.8 inches of precipitation per year.
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. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Iowa run around $212, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Workers in Storm Lake report an average commute of 10.4 minutes, with 61.2% driving alone and 5.6% working from home. 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 Storm Lake'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 climate and hazard context to population change to housing and income to reported crime to schools and households to comparison shortlist to within-city variation; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Storm Lake, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Storm Lake?
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 61.2%. The reported mean trip to work is 10.4 minutes.
What physical conditions frame life in Storm Lake?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 47.1°F, with 33.8 inches of precipitation. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Iowa is 39.7 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
Which cities make useful reference points for Storm Lake?
Within Iowa, the closest population matches are Spencer (11,393 residents, $57,068 income); Oskaloosa (11,492 residents, $62,172 income); Pleasant Hill (10,796 residents, $86,890 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Healdsburg, CA (11,274 residents); Whitestown, IN (11,276 residents); Anderson, CA (11,282 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 nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
What can 6 Census tracts reveal inside Storm Lake?
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
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.
Population change
Is Storm Lake growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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 +328 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.9% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 153 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
+2.9%
2025 estimate
11,590
2020 estimate
11,262
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
How far does income reach against housing in Storm Lake?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.8%, 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
$58,341
Home value
$163,600
Value / income
2.8×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Storm Lake?
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.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1966.2 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 14% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
1679.1
Violent rate
287.1
Total reported rate
1966.2
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
What does the education layer cover for Storm Lake?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 18.9% 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.
Matched public schools
1
Bachelor's degree+
18.9%
Poverty estimate
4.8%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Below median income · poverty 4.8% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
87.8 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Iowa average
C-
City profile score · Storm Lake, IA
52/100
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 B-
4.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
287 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income F
$58,341
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
18.9%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Storm Lake profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
Poverty rate: 67/100 (B-) · 4.8%
Violent crime: 35/100 (F) · 287 /100k
Household income: 32/100 (F) · $58,341
Bachelor's+ share: 31/100 (F) · 18.9%
Where Storm Lake sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Storm Lake'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 - Storm Lake highlighted among 10 peers.Read the chart values
Storm Lake, IA (this city): home $163,600, crime 1,966/100k
Healdsburg, CA : home $946,900, crime 1,744/100k
Whitestown, IN : home $343,900, crime 1,518/100k
Anderson, CA : home $272,000, crime 2,211/100k
Ravenna, OH : home $129,400, crime 1,914/100k
Spencer, IA : home $178,300, crime 1,043/100k
Oskaloosa, IA : home $128,900, crime 1,042/100k
Pella, IA : home $259,600, crime 1,060/100k
Le Mars, IA : home $202,200, crime 1,017/100k
Waverly, IA : home $215,200, crime 1,027/100k
How does Storm Lake compare to other US cities?
Storm Lake measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income33% higher than other cities
Home value31% pricier than other cities
Median rent11% pricier than other cities
Safety33% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to Iowa alone, Storm Lake ranks #115 of 141 Iowa cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Storm Lake 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 Storm Lake near the bottom of Iowa's cities
Among the 858 Iowa cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Storm Lake ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Storm Lake only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#582 of 845
31st percentile in Iowa
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Home Value
#220 of 849
74th percentile in Iowa
Poverty Rate
#490 of 858
42nd percentile in Iowa
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#387 of 858
54th 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
33rd percentile nationally for median household income · 33rd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Storm Lake's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Storm Lake'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 Storm Lake's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$163,600Among the most affordablemore affordable than 69% 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
Storm Lake's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,614 of 15,516
More affordable than 64% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#661 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 2.8×, Storm Lake sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,614 of 15,516 and #661 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
$58,341Storm Lake, IA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Storm Lake, 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 Storm Lake, IA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)18.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)65.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
11,275
Median Income
$58,341
Median Home Value
$163,600
Median Age
31.2
Poverty Rate
4.8%
Labor force participation
65.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
18.9%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1966.2
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
287.1
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1679.1
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.
Climate
Avg Temperature
47.1°F
Annual Precipitation
33.8"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
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
Storm Lake's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
11,262 residents
2021
11,343 residents
2022
11,430 residents
2023
11,551 residents
2024
11,548 residents
2025
11,590 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
153
housing units authorized
Single-Family
80
detached homes
Multifamily
73
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
13.6
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
8
8
0
$1.2M
2020
20
16
4
$3.3M
2021
109
11
98
$11.9M
2022
77
77
0
$8.4M
2023
10
6
4
$2.0M
2024
153
80
73
$33.6M
Permit volume increased 1813% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
10.4 minutes
Drive Alone
61.2%
Carpool
23.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
9.4%
Work from Home
5.6%
Other
0.6%
Based on 5,472 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 Storm Lake. 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 Storm Lake 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 Storm Lake sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Storm Lake 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, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.