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Place dossier plate
SheetIA-TRIPOLI-IA · Tripoli, IA 1,256 pop · income 57th 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 Tripoli
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Tripoli on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Belmont · lowest
51,086
Belmont · lowest
51,086 median HH income
49.1% of the leader · rank #1
Harrisville · near
75,981
Harrisville · near
75,981 median HH income
73.0% of the leader · rank #2
Segundo · near
75,982
Segundo · near
75,982 median HH income
73.0% of the leader · rank #3
Tripoli · this city
75,988
Tripoli · this city
75,988 median HH income
73.0% of the leader · rank #4
Grenelefe · near
75,994
Grenelefe · near
75,994 median HH income
73.0% of the leader · rank #5
Mount Cory · near
76,000
Mount Cory · near
76,000 median HH income
73.0% of the leader · rank #6
Dorothy · highest
104,102
Dorothy · highest
104,102 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 Tripoli 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: 1,256.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Tripoli lands in the 57th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
57th
percentile, household income
16th
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: Tripoli, IA
Tripoli is a small town in Iowa, home to 1,256 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Tripoli report a median income of $75,988 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 1.3%. Tripoli's housing stock carries a median value of $116,200, and the median resident age is 42.8 years. Educational attainment runs 22.7% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 60.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
NOAA puts Tripoli's yearly average temperature at 46.4°F with 38.6 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. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $989 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $212 across Iowa, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. The average commute for Tripoli workers runs 26.5 minutes, with 82.5% driving alone and 8.5% working from home. Natural-hazard exposure scores 39.7 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Tripoli'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 climate and hazard context to population change to work and mobility to comparison shortlist to schools and households to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Tripoli, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, 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
What physical conditions frame life in Tripoli?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 46.4°F, with 38.6 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.
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 +16 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.3% 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Tripoli?
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 82.5%. The reported mean trip to work is 26.5 minutes.
Which cities make useful reference points for Tripoli?
Within Iowa, the closest population matches are Montezuma (1,257 residents, $63,375 income); Dike (1,258 residents, $88,523 income); Baxter (1,251 residents, $60,625 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Shirley, MA (1,256 residents); Ignacio, CO (1,255 residents); Prince's Lakes, IN (1,257 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.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Tripoli?
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 22.7% 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
2
Bachelor's degree+
22.7%
Poverty estimate
1.3%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
How far does income reach against housing in Tripoli?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 1.3%, 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. 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.
Household income
$75,988
Home value
$116,200
Value / income
1.5×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Above median income · poverty 1.3% (Very low poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
87.8 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Iowa average
B
City profile score · Tripoli, IA
71/100
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 A+
1.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income C
$75,988
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share D
22.7%
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).
Tripoli profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
Poverty rate: 91/100 (A+) · 1.3%
Household income: 55/100 (C) · $75,988
Bachelor's+ share: 42/100 (D) · 22.7%
How does Tripoli compare to other US cities?
Where Tripoli sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income57% higher than other cities
Home value16% 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 Tripoli 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 Tripoli near the bottom of Iowa's cities
Among the 858 Iowa cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Tripoli ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Tripoli only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#230 of 845
73rd percentile in Iowa
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Home Value
#434 of 849
49th percentile in Iowa
Poverty Rate
#731 of 858
14th percentile in Iowa
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#249 of 858
71st 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
57th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Tripoli's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$116,200Among the most affordablemore affordable than 84% 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
Tripoli's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#438 of 15,516
More affordable than 97% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#429 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.5×, Tripoli sits in the affordable band:
national rank #438 of 15,516 and #429 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
$75,988Tripoli, IA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Tripoli, 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 Tripoli, IA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)22.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)1.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)60.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,256
Median Income
$75,988
Median Home Value
$116,200
Median Age
42.8
Poverty Rate
1.3%
Labor force participation
60.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
22.7%
Climate
Avg Temperature
46.4°F
Annual Precipitation
38.6"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
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
Tripoli's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,192 residents
2021
1,198 residents
2022
1,202 residents
2023
1,209 residents
2024
1,209 residents
2025
1,208 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
26.5 minutes
Drive Alone
82.5%
Carpool
3.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
2.4%
Work from Home
8.5%
Other
3.1%
Based on 624 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 Tripoli. 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 Tripoli 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 Tripoli sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Tripoli 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, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, 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.