Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
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.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Fernwood 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: 130.
130 people call Fernwood, Idaho home. Source: Census ACS.
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: Fernwood, ID
130 people live in Fernwood, Idaho - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. About 0.0% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 0.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 1 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
Living costs in Idaho run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Idaho at 95.5 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Below Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,173 per month. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Idaho's average monthly utility costs around $170 (state average). 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 Fernwood'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 schools and households to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Fernwood, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, commute-mode shares, annual population history; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the education layer cover for Fernwood?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 0.0% 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 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Fernwood?
Within Idaho, the closest population matches are Conkling Park (131 residents, $31,667 income); Minidoka (132 residents, $41,875 income); Elk River (133 residents, $63,125 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Gu-Win, AL (130 residents); Lester, AL (130 residents); Copper Hill, AZ (130 residents). 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.
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.
Poverty rate A+
0.0%
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.
Bachelor's+ share F
0.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income N/A
N/A
No ACS median household income on file for this place.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Fernwood profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 100/100 (A+) · 0.0%
Cost of living: 61/100 (C+) · 95.5 index
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 0.0%
How does Fernwood compare to other US cities?
Here's how Fernwood stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
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 Fernwood 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 Fernwood near the bottom of Idaho's cities
Among the 215 Idaho cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Fernwood ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Fernwood only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 215
0th percentile in Idaho
Poverty Rate
#187 of 215
0th percentile in Idaho
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#210 of 215
0th 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.
Income distribution context
Median household income is not available for Fernwood in the current Census ACS release (common for very small places).
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)0.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)0.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
130
Median Income
N/A
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
N/A
Poverty Rate
0.0%
Labor force participation
0.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
0.0%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
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 Fernwood. 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 Fernwood 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 Fernwood sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Fernwood 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, NCES CCD, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.