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Place dossier plate
SheetID-MUD-LAKE-ID · Mud Lake, ID 516 pop · income 43rd 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 Mud Lake
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Mud Lake on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Ellerslie · lowest
34,167
Ellerslie · lowest
34,167 median HH income
43.9% of the leader · rank #1
Mud Lake · this city
65,000
Mud Lake · this city
65,000 median HH income
83.4% of the leader · rank #2
Athens · near
65,000
Athens · near
65,000 median HH income
83.4% of the leader · rank #3
Sweet Water · near
65,000
Sweet Water · near
65,000 median HH income
83.4% of the leader · rank #4
Graeagle · near
65,000
Graeagle · near
65,000 median HH income
83.4% of the leader · rank #5
Pensacola Sta… · near
65,000
Pensacola Sta… · near
65,000 median HH income
83.4% of the leader · rank #6
Fairfield · highest
77,917
Fairfield · highest
77,917 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 Mud 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: 516.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Mud Lake places in the 43rd percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
43rd
percentile, household income
30th
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: Mud Lake, ID
Mud Lake is a small town in Idaho, home to 516 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Mud Lake brings in $65,000 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 14.5%. Mud Lake's housing stock carries a median value of $160,700, and the median resident age is 29.1 years. Educational attainment runs 7.8% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 63.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,173 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Idaho run around $170, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. 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 Mud 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 housing and income to work and mobility to comparison shortlist to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Mud Lake, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
How far does income reach against housing in Mud Lake?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 14.5%, 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Mud 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 67.3%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Which cities make useful reference points for Mud Lake?
Within Idaho, the closest population matches are Newdale (515 residents, $71,250 income); Declo (514 residents, $46,780 income); Fairfield (519 residents, $77,917 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Highland Lake, AL (516 residents); Sulphur Springs, AR (516 residents); Holland, IN (516 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 Mud Lake growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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 +46 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +14.5% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Below median income · poverty 14.5% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
95.5 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Idaho average
F
City profile score · Mud Lake, ID
34/100
4 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 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.
Household income D
$65,000
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
14.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
7.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Mud Lake profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 61/100 (C+) · 95.5 index
Household income: 42/100 (D) · $65,000
Poverty rate: 24/100 (F) · 14.5%
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 7.8%
How does Mud Lake compare to other US cities?
Where Mud Lake sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income43% higher than other cities
Home value30% 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 Mud 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 Mud Lake near the bottom of Idaho's cities
Among the 215 Idaho cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Mud Lake ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Mud Lake only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#94 of 206
54th percentile in Idaho
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 215
0th percentile in Idaho
Median Home Value
#180 of 204
12th percentile in Idaho
Poverty Rate
#39 of 215
81st percentile in Idaho
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#193 of 215
10th 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
43rd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Mud Lake's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$160,700Among the most affordablemore affordable than 70% 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
Mud Lake's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,862 of 15,516
More affordable than 75% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,491 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.5×, Mud Lake sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,862 of 15,516 and #3,491 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
$65,000Mud Lake, ID median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Mud 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 Mud Lake, ID.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)7.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)14.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)63.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
516
Median Income
$65,000
Median Home Value
$160,700
Median Age
29.1
Poverty Rate
14.5%
Labor force participation
63.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
7.8%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Mud Lake's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
318 residents
2021
330 residents
2022
342 residents
2023
353 residents
2024
359 residents
2025
364 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
67.3%
Carpool
30.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
2.3%
Work from Home
0.0%
Based on 220 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 Mud 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 Mud 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 Mud Lake sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Mud 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 ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.