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Place dossier plate
SheetID-FERNAN-LAKE-ID · Fernan Lake, ID 138 pop · income 87th 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 Fernan Lake
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Fernan Lake on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Leadore · lowest
31,023
Leadore · lowest
31,023 median HH income
26.1% of the leader · rank #1
Fernan Lake · this city
118,750
Fernan Lake · this city
118,750 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #2
Yardley · highest
118,750
Yardley · highest
118,750 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #3
Redstone Arse… · near
118,750
Redstone Arse… · near
118,750 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #4
Beverly Shores · near
118,750
Beverly Shores · near
118,750 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #5
Solway · near
118,750
Solway · near
118,750 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #6
Rutgers Unive… · near
118,750
Rutgers Unive… · near
118,750 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 Fernan 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: 138.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Fernan Lake places in the 87th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
87th
percentile, household income
89th
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: Fernan Lake, ID
Fernan Lake is a small town in Idaho, home to 138 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $118,750 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 2.1%. Home values in Fernan Lake run a median of $598,700, and the median resident age is 62.0 years. Educational attainment runs 54.0% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 40.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 0 residential units authorized here in 2024 (No Permits).
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. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,173 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Idaho run around $170, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 38.5 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Fernan 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 comparison shortlist to population change to work and mobility to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Fernan Lake, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, local building permits, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, 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
Which cities make useful reference points for Fernan Lake?
Within Idaho, the closest population matches are Bovill (136 residents, $34,750 income); De Smet (134 residents, $44,792 income); Elk River (133 residents, $63,125 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Black Springs, AR (138 residents); Winchester, AR (138 residents); East Nicolaus, CA (138 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.
Is Fernan Lake growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -6 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -3.6% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. 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 Fernan Lake?
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 80.0%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
How far does income reach against housing in Fernan Lake?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.1%, 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. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
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.
Bachelor's+ share A
54.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income A
$118,750
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate A
2.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
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.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Fernan Lake profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 87/100 (A) · 54.0%
Household income: 85/100 (A) · $118,750
Poverty rate: 85/100 (A) · 2.1%
Cost of living: 61/100 (C+) · 95.5 index
How does Fernan Lake compare to other US cities?
Fernan Lake measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income87% higher than other cities
Home value89% 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 Fernan Lake 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 Fernan Lake near the bottom of Idaho's cities
Among the 215 Idaho cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Fernan Lake ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Fernan Lake only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#4 of 206
98th percentile in Idaho
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 215
0th percentile in Idaho
Median Home Value
#11 of 204
95th percentile in Idaho
Poverty Rate
#174 of 215
19th percentile in Idaho
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#12 of 215
94th 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
87th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Fernan Lake's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$598,70011th percentilemore affordable than 11% 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
Fernan Lake's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#12,964 of 15,516
More affordable than 16% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#9,802 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 5.0×, Fernan Lake sits in the pressured band:
national rank #12,964 of 15,516 and #9,802 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
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
$118,750Fernan Lake, ID median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Fernan Lake, 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 Fernan Lake, ID.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)54.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)2.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)40.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
138
Median Income
$118,750
Median Home Value
$598,700
Median Age
62.0
Poverty Rate
2.1%
Labor force participation
40.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
54.0%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Fernan Lake's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
169 residents
2021
169 residents
2022
167 residents
2023
165 residents
2024
164 residents
2025
163 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
80.0%
Carpool
6.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
2.0%
Work from Home
10.0%
Other
2.0%
Based on 50 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 Fernan Lake. 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 Fernan Lake 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 Fernan Lake sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Fernan Lake 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, 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.