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Place dossier plate
SheetIA-WASHINGTON-IA · Washington, IA 7,314 pop · income 30th 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 Washington
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Washington on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
La Follette · lowest
34,678
La Follette · lowest
34,678 median HH income
24.5% of the leader · rank #1
Sawmills · near
56,534
Sawmills · near
56,534 median HH income
40.0% of the leader · rank #2
Washington · this city
56,536
Washington · this city
56,536 median HH income
40.0% of the leader · rank #3
Grand Rapids · near
56,542
Grand Rapids · near
56,542 median HH income
40.0% of the leader · rank #4
Hamilton · near
56,548
Hamilton · near
56,548 median HH income
40.0% of the leader · rank #5
Reedsville · near
56,548
Reedsville · near
56,548 median HH income
40.0% of the leader · rank #6
Northport · highest
141,378
Northport · highest
141,378 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 Washington 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: 7,314.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Washington - the verdict
Washington ranks in the 30th percentile for household income and the 30th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
30th
percentile, household income
25th
percentile, home value
11th
percentile, median rent
30th
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: Washington, IA
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 7,314 residents in Washington, a small town within Iowa. Households in Washington report a median income of $56,536 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 12.4%. Home values in Washington run a median of $144,500, and the median resident age is 39.6 years. Educational attainment runs 21.5% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 60.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 5 residential building permits were authorized in Washington (Construction Slowdown), down 37% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 2091.1 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 puts Washington's yearly average temperature at 49.3°F with 37.9 inches of precipitation per year and 25.2 inches of snowfall.
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. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Iowa's average monthly utility costs around $212 (state average). Commute times here average 16.5 minutes, with 76.8% driving alone and 7.8% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. 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 Washington'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 work and mobility to comparison shortlist to schools and households to reported crime to within-city variation to population change to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Washington, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, local building permits, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Washington?
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.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 49.3°F, with 37.9 inches of precipitation and 25.2 inches of annual snowfall. 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Washington?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 76.8%. The reported mean trip to work is 16.5 minutes.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Washington?
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.
Within Iowa, the closest population matches are Charles City (7,321 residents, $56,734 income); Hiawatha (7,178 residents, $67,628 income); Creston (7,466 residents, $50,752 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Heber, CA (7,308 residents); Northport, NY (7,320 residents); La Follette, TN (7,308 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 can 6 Census tracts reveal inside Washington?
PlainCities matches 6 Census tracts to this city.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Washington?
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 4 public schools within the city match. 21.5% 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.
Poverty estimate
12.4%
Bachelor's degree+
21.5%
Matched public schools
4
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Washington?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2091.1 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, near the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 8% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
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.
Total reported rate
2091.1
Violent rate
221.6
Property rate
1869.5
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Is Washington growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -87 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 5 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.
2020 estimate
7,348
2025 estimate
7,261
Period change
-1.2%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
How far does income reach against housing in Washington?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.6 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 12.4%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
2.6×
Home value
$144,500
Household income
$56,536
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Below median income · poverty 12.4% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
87.8 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Iowa average
D
City profile score · Washington, IA
47/100
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.
Violent crime D
222 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
21.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
12.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$56,536
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Washington profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
Violent crime: 44/100 (D) · 222 /100k
Bachelor's+ share: 39/100 (F) · 21.5%
Poverty rate: 30/100 (F) · 12.4%
Household income: 29/100 (F) · $56,536
Where Washington sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Washington'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 - Washington highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
Washington, IA (this city): home $144,500, crime 2,091/100k
La Follette, TN : home $106,000, crime 1,197/100k
Charles City, IA : home $118,900, crime 1,157/100k
Hiawatha, IA : home $210,200, crime 1,342/100k
Creston, IA : home $112,600, crime 1,307/100k
Knoxville, IA : home $147,600, crime 2,044/100k
Decorah, IA : home $234,600, crime 343/100k
Clear Lake, IA : home $235,100, crime 1,884/100k
How does Washington compare to other US cities?
Here's how Washington stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income30% higher than other cities
Home value25% pricier than other cities
Median rent11% pricier than other cities
Safety30% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Iowa and the picture shifts: Washington ranks #121 of 141 Iowa cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Washington 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 Washington near the bottom of Iowa's cities
Among the 858 Iowa cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Washington ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Washington only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#622 of 845
26th percentile in Iowa
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Home Value
#298 of 849
65th percentile in Iowa
Poverty Rate
#142 of 858
83rd percentile in Iowa
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#285 of 858
66th 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
30th percentile nationally for median household income · 30th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Washington's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Washington'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 Washington's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$144,500Among the most affordablemore affordable than 75% 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
Washington's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.6×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#4,289 of 15,516
More affordable than 72% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,842 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.6×, Washington sits in the affordable band:
national rank #4,289 of 15,516 and #3,842 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
$56,536Washington, IA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Washington, 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 Washington, IA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)21.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)12.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)60.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
7,314
Median Income
$56,536
Median Home Value
$144,500
Median Age
39.6
Poverty Rate
12.4%
Labor force participation
60.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
21.5%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2091.1
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
221.6
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1869.5
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
49.3°F
Annual Precipitation
37.9"
Annual Snowfall
25.2"
Schools
Total Schools
4
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Washington's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
7,348 residents
2021
7,306 residents
2022
7,286 residents
2023
7,267 residents
2024
7,251 residents
2025
7,261 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
5
housing units authorized
Single-Family
1
detached homes
Multifamily
4
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.7
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
8
4
4
$1.4M
2020
5
1
4
$0.9M
2021
6
2
4
$1.1M
2022
7
1
6
$1.2M
2023
5
1
4
$0.9M
2024
5
1
4
$0.9M
Permit volume decreased 37% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
16.5 minutes
Drive Alone
76.8%
Carpool
8.8%
Public Transit
2.5%
Walk
2.7%
Work from Home
7.8%
Other
1.4%
Based on 3,492 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 Washington. 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 Washington 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 Washington sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Washington 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.