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Place dossier plate
SheetIA-WAUKON-IA · Waukon, IA 3,796 pop · income 29th pct · 5 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 Waukon
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Waukon on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
San Diego · lowest
46,969
San Diego · lowest
46,969 median HH income
44.1% of the leader · rank #1
Waukon · this city
56,250
Waukon · this city
56,250 median HH income
52.8% of the leader · rank #2
St. Florian · near
56,250
St. Florian · near
56,250 median HH income
52.8% of the leader · rank #3
Koliganek · near
56,250
Koliganek · near
56,250 median HH income
52.8% of the leader · rank #4
Newhalen · near
56,250
Newhalen · near
56,250 median HH income
52.8% of the leader · rank #5
St. Michael · near
56,250
St. Michael · near
56,250 median HH income
52.8% of the leader · rank #6
Mission Hills · highest
106,455
Mission Hills · highest
106,455 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 Waukon 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: 3,796.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Waukon - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Waukon lands in the 29th percentile for household income and the 87th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
29th
percentile, household income
22nd
percentile, home value
11th
percentile, median rent
87th
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: Waukon, IA
Iowa's Waukon is a small town, with 3,796 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Waukon households earn a median of $56,250 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 11.5%. Home values in Waukon run a median of $133,700, and the median resident age is 42.5 years. Educational attainment runs 21.0% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 59.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 41 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Building Boom), up 1267% from five years earlier. Waukon reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 452.0 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Waukon's yearly average temperature at 45.4°F with 39.2 inches of precipitation per year.
Living costs in Iowa run below the national norm: the state registers 87.8 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Well Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. 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 Waukon'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 within-city variation to reported crime to comparison shortlist to schools and households to climate and hazard context to housing and income to population change to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Waukon, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, commute-mode shares.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Within-city variation
What can 5 Census tracts reveal inside Waukon?
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.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Waukon?
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 452.0 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 80% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Which cities make useful reference points for Waukon?
Within Iowa, the closest population matches are West Liberty (3,795 residents, $66,132 income); Carter Lake (3,773 residents, $75,037 income); Cresco (3,901 residents, $60,769 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Pixley, CA (3,796 residents); San Diego, TX (3,795 residents); Horicon, WI (3,797 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.
The NCES join finds 4 public schools within the city match. 21.0% 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 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.
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.
Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Waukon?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 45.4°F, with 39.2 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.
Mean temperature
45.4°F
Annual precipitation
39.2 in
FEMA risk index (state avg)
39.7
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
How far does income reach against housing in Waukon?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 11.5%, 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
$56,250
Home value
$133,700
Value / income
2.4×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +29 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.8% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 41 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
+0.8%
2025 estimate
3,849
2020 estimate
3,820
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What does the journey to work look like in Waukon?
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 74.9%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.0%
Work from home
7.9%
Drive alone
74.9%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,751 workers age 16+.
Below median income · poverty 11.5% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
87.8 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Iowa average
C
City profile score · Waukon, IA
56/100
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 A+
27 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
21.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
11.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$56,250
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Waukon profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
Violent crime: 90/100 (A+) · 27 /100k
Bachelor's+ share: 37/100 (F) · 21.0%
Poverty rate: 34/100 (F) · 11.5%
Household income: 29/100 (F) · $56,250
Where Waukon sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Waukon'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 - Waukon highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
Waukon, IA (this city): home $133,700, crime 452/100k
Horicon, WI : home $162,400, crime 796/100k
Dwight, IL : home $143,200, crime 743/100k
West Liberty, IA : home $169,500, crime 651/100k
Carter Lake, IA : home $161,200, crime 5,308/100k
Cresco, IA : home $105,200, crime 231/100k
Albia, IA : home $132,500, crime 1,099/100k
Emmetsburg, IA : home $114,600, crime 806/100k
How does Waukon compare to other US cities?
Where Waukon sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income29% higher than other cities
Home value22% pricier than other cities
Median rent11% pricier than other cities
Safety87% 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: Waukon ranks #41 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 Waukon 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 Waukon near the bottom of Iowa's cities
Among the 858 Iowa cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Waukon ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Waukon only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#632 of 845
25th percentile in Iowa
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 858
0th percentile in Iowa
Median Home Value
#341 of 849
60th percentile in Iowa
Poverty Rate
#174 of 858
79th percentile in Iowa
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#307 of 858
64th 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
29th percentile nationally for median household income · 87th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Waukon's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Waukon'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 Waukon's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$133,700Among the most affordablemore affordable than 78% 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
Waukon's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,364 of 15,516
More affordable than 78% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,073 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.4×, Waukon sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,364 of 15,516 and #3,073 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
$56,250Waukon, IA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Waukon, 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 Waukon, IA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)21.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)11.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)59.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
3,796
Median Income
$56,250
Median Home Value
$133,700
Median Age
42.5
Poverty Rate
11.5%
Labor force participation
59.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
21.0%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
452.0
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
26.6
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
425.4
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
45.4°F
Annual Precipitation
39.2"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
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
Waukon's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
3,820 residents
2021
3,781 residents
2022
3,787 residents
2023
3,801 residents
2024
3,806 residents
2025
3,849 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
41
housing units authorized
Single-Family
5
detached homes
Multifamily
36
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
10.8
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
3
3
0
$0.6M
2020
1
1
0
$0.3M
2021
1
1
0
$0.3M
2022
2
2
0
$0.7M
2023
6
6
0
$2.2M
2024
41
5
36
$4.9M
Permit volume increased 1267% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
74.9%
Carpool
9.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
6.8%
Work from Home
7.9%
Other
1.3%
Based on 1,751 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 Waukon. 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 Waukon 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 Waukon sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Waukon 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.