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Place dossier plate
SheetIA-WALL-LAKE-IA · Wall Lake, IA 641 pop · income 34th 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 Wall Lake
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Wall Lake on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Boyle · lowest
39,926
Boyle · lowest
39,926 median HH income
42.0% of the leader · rank #1
Farmersville · near
59,297
Farmersville · near
59,297 median HH income
62.3% of the leader · rank #2
Hayesville · near
59,299
Hayesville · near
59,299 median HH income
62.3% of the leader · rank #3
Wall Lake · this city
59,306
Wall Lake · this city
59,306 median HH income
62.3% of the leader · rank #4
Ogdensburg · near
59,306
Ogdensburg · near
59,306 median HH income
62.3% of the leader · rank #5
Gurley · near
59,313
Gurley · near
59,313 median HH income
62.3% of the leader · rank #6
Lakeville · highest
95,156
Lakeville · highest
95,156 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 Wall Lake 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: 641.
Nationally, Wall Lake sits in the 34th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
34th
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: Wall Lake, IA
641 people live in Wall Lake, Iowa - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Wall Lake report a median income of $59,306 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 3.3%. Typical homes in Wall Lake are valued around $116,500, and the median resident age is 53.5 years. About 16.8% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 52.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 1 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Low Activity).
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. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $989 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $212 across Iowa, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. 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 Wall 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 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 Wall Lake, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history, local building permits.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; 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 Wall Lake?
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 2.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 3.3%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Is Wall Lake growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -18 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.4% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 1 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Wall Lake?
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 Batavia (635 residents, $54,432 income); Murray (648 residents, $60,313 income); What Cheer (634 residents, $49,688 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Lakeville, CT (641 residents); Morris, IN (641 residents); Udall, KS (641 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 Wall Lake?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 79.5%. 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.
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+
3.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$59,306
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
16.8%
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).
Wall Lake profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
Poverty rate: 76/100 (B+) · 3.3%
Household income: 34/100 (F) · $59,306
Bachelor's+ share: 25/100 (F) · 16.8%
How does Wall Lake compare to other US cities?
Where Wall Lake sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income34% 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 Wall 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 Wall Lake near the bottom of Iowa's cities
Among the 858 Iowa cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Wall Lake ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Wall Lake only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#554 of 845
34th percentile in Iowa
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Home Value
#429 of 849
49th percentile in Iowa
Poverty Rate
#597 of 858
30th percentile in Iowa
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#471 of 858
45th 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
34th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Wall Lake's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$116,500Among 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
Wall Lake's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#1,516 of 15,516
More affordable than 90% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,453 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.0×, Wall Lake sits in the affordable band:
national rank #1,516 of 15,516 and #1,453 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
$59,306Wall Lake, IA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Wall 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 Wall Lake, IA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)16.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)3.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)52.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
641
Median Income
$59,306
Median Home Value
$116,500
Median Age
53.5
Poverty Rate
3.3%
Labor force participation
52.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
16.8%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Wall Lake's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
754 residents
2021
753 residents
2022
750 residents
2023
754 residents
2024
745 residents
2025
736 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Low Activity
Total Permits (2024)
1
housing units authorized
Single-Family
1
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1.6
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
1
1
0
$0.3M
2021
2
2
0
$0.7M
2022
3
3
0
$0.8M
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
1
1
0
$0.4M
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
79.5%
Carpool
10.4%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.7%
Work from Home
7.8%
Other
1.6%
Based on 268 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 Wall 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 Wall 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 Wall Lake sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Wall 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, 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.