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Place dossier plate
SheetID-DOWNEY-ID · Downey, ID 736 pop · income 14th 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 Downey
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Downey on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Watterson Park · lowest
38,984
Watterson Park · lowest
38,984 median HH income
22.9% of the leader · rank #1
Downey · this city
46,000
Downey · this city
46,000 median HH income
27.0% of the leader · rank #2
Nauvoo · near
46,000
Nauvoo · near
46,000 median HH income
27.0% of the leader · rank #3
Nectar · near
46,000
Nectar · near
46,000 median HH income
27.0% of the leader · rank #4
Port Austin · near
46,000
Port Austin · near
46,000 median HH income
27.0% of the leader · rank #5
Hysham · near
46,000
Hysham · near
46,000 median HH income
27.0% of the leader · rank #6
Grand View Es… · highest
170,375
Grand View Es… · highest
170,375 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 Downey 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: 736.
Downey ranks in the 14th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
14th
percentile, household income
28th
percentile, home value
51st
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: Downey, ID
Downey is a small town in Idaho, home to 736 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $46,000 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 10.3%. Home values in Downey run a median of $153,000, and the median resident age is 36.6 years. About 18.9% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 60.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 4 residential building permits were authorized in Downey (Low Activity), per Census BPS data. NOAA puts Downey's yearly average temperature at 45.6°F with 15.6 inches of precipitation per year.
Living costs in Idaho run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Idaho scores 95.5 (Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,173 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $170 across Idaho, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 38.5 out of 100 (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Downey'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 schools and households to population change to climate and hazard context to comparison shortlist to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Downey, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, matched public-school count, local building permits, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Downey?
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 73.1%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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.
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 +18 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +3.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 4 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Which cities make useful reference points for Downey?
Within Idaho, the closest population matches are Georgetown (735 residents, $68,438 income); Mackay (719 residents, $41,474 income); Horseshoe Bend (756 residents, $54,236 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Grand View Estates, CO (736 residents); Gilbertville, IA (736 residents); Wilroads Gardens, KS (736 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.
Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Downey?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 45.6°F, with 15.6 inches of precipitation. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Idaho is 38.5 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
45.6°F
Annual precipitation
15.6 in
FEMA risk index (state avg)
38.5
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 Downey?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 10.3%, 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. 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
$46,000
Home value
$153,000
Value / income
3.3×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
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 C+
95.5 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 F
10.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
18.9%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$46,000
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Downey profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 61/100 (C+) · 95.5 index
Poverty rate: 38/100 (F) · 10.3%
Bachelor's+ share: 31/100 (F) · 18.9%
Household income: 15/100 (F) · $46,000
How does Downey compare to other US cities?
Where Downey sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income14% higher than other cities
Home value28% pricier than other cities
Median rent51% 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 Downey against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Idaho only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Idaho-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Downey near the bottom of Idaho's cities
Among the 215 Idaho cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Downey ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Downey only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#179 of 206
13th percentile in Idaho
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 215
0th percentile in Idaho
Median Home Value
#185 of 204
9th percentile in Idaho
Poverty Rate
#82 of 215
62nd percentile in Idaho
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#103 of 215
51st percentile in Idaho
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 Idaho only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
14th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Downey's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$153,000Among the most affordablemore affordable than 72% 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
Downey's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#8,239 of 15,516
More affordable than 47% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#6,728 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.3×, Downey sits in the moderate band:
national rank #8,239 of 15,516 and #6,728 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
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
$46,000Downey, ID median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Downey, ID median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Downey, ID.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)18.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)10.3%
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
736
Median Income
$46,000
Median Home Value
$153,000
Median Age
36.6
Poverty Rate
10.3%
Labor force participation
60.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
18.9%
Climate
Avg Temperature
45.6°F
Annual Precipitation
15.6"
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
Downey's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
565 residents
2021
563 residents
2022
562 residents
2023
568 residents
2024
578 residents
2025
583 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Low Activity
Total Permits (2024)
4
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
4
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
5.4
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
0
0
0
-
2022
5
5
0
$1.0M
2023
6
2
4
$1.0M
2024
4
0
4
$0.4M
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
73.1%
Carpool
14.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
7.0%
Work from Home
3.1%
Other
2.7%
Based on 327 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Idaho statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $170
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Idaho at $170 (electricity about $80 , water and sewer about $40 ).
These are Idaho statewide averages, not a meter reading for Downey. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Idaho's BEA cost-of-living index is 95.5 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Downey is $1,173/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Idaho statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 38.5 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Idaho statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Downey sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Downey compares to similar-size Idaho 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 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.