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Place dossier plate
SheetID-PRESTON-ID · Preston, ID 5,800 pop · income 28th pct · 2 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 Preston
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Preston on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Columbia · lowest
34,328
Columbia · lowest
34,328 median HH income
13.7% of the leader · rank #1
Preston · this city
55,625
Preston · this city
55,625 median HH income
22.2% of the leader · rank #2
Deering · near
55,625
Deering · near
55,625 median HH income
22.2% of the leader · rank #3
Findlay · near
55,625
Findlay · near
55,625 median HH income
22.2% of the leader · rank #4
New Ross · near
55,625
New Ross · near
55,625 median HH income
22.2% of the leader · rank #5
Reynolds · near
55,625
Reynolds · near
55,625 median HH income
22.2% of the leader · rank #6
Merion Station · highest
250,001
Merion Station · highest
250,001 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 Preston 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: 5,800.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Preston - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Preston places in the 28th percentile for household income and the 87th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
28th
percentile, household income
62nd
percentile, home value
51st
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: Preston, ID
Idaho's Preston is a small town, with 5,800 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $55,625 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 10.7%. Home values in Preston run a median of $280,500, and the median resident age is 34.5 years. 15.7% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 59.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Preston reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 445.7 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). The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 47.0°F with 17.3 inches of precipitation per year and 52.4 inches of snowfall.
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. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Idaho's average monthly utility costs around $170 (state average). 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 Preston'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 climate and hazard context to population change to schools and households to housing and income to comparison shortlist to reported crime to within-city variation; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Preston, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in Preston?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 83.0%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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.
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.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 47.0°F, with 17.3 inches of precipitation and 52.4 inches of annual snowfall. 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Preston?
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.
Within Idaho, the closest population matches are Weiser (5,803 residents, $45,463 income); Rupert (6,157 residents, $54,444 income); Rigby (5,251 residents, $78,278 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Patterson, LA (5,801 residents); Medina, NY (5,799 residents); Jan Phyl, FL (5,798 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.
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.
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.
Population change
Is Preston growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +626 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +11.3% 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.
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.
2020 estimate
5,551
2025 estimate
6,177
Period change
+11.3%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
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.
The NCES join finds 5 public schools within the city match. 15.7% 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.
Poverty estimate
10.7%
Bachelor's degree+
15.7%
Matched public schools
5
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
How far does income reach against housing in Preston?
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.
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 10.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
5.0×
Home value
$280,500
Household income
$55,625
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Preston?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 445.7 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.
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.
Total reported rate
445.7
Violent rate
63.7
Property rate
382.0
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Below median income · poverty 10.7% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
95.5 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Idaho average
D
City profile score · Preston, ID
46/100
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.
Violent crime A-
64 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger 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.
Poverty rate F
10.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$55,625
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
15.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Preston profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 80/100 (A-) · 64 /100k
Cost of living: 61/100 (C+) · 95.5 index
Poverty rate: 37/100 (F) · 10.7%
Household income: 28/100 (F) · $55,625
Bachelor's+ share: 22/100 (F) · 15.7%
Where Preston sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Preston'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 - Preston highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
Preston, ID (this city): home $280,500, crime 446/100k
Patterson, LA : home $137,200, crime 811/100k
Germantown, OH : home $186,900, crime 878/100k
Weiser, ID : home $196,200, crime 178/100k
Rupert, ID : home $182,500, crime 1,391/100k
Rigby, ID : home $267,200, crime 1,355/100k
Fruitland, ID : home $286,300, crime 643/100k
Shelley, ID : home $267,200, crime 1,093/100k
Kimberly, ID : home $289,500, crime 409/100k
How does Preston compare to other US cities?
Where Preston sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income28% higher than other cities
Home value62% pricier than other cities
Median rent51% pricier than other cities
Safety87% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at Idaho, Preston ranks #8 of 53 Idaho cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Preston 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 Preston near the bottom of Idaho's cities
Among the 215 Idaho cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Preston ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Preston only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#137 of 206
33rd percentile in Idaho
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 215
0th percentile in Idaho
Median Home Value
#73 of 204
64th percentile in Idaho
Poverty Rate
#80 of 215
63rd percentile in Idaho
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#134 of 215
38th 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
28th percentile nationally for median household income · 87th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Preston's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Preston'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 Preston's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$280,50038th percentilemore affordable than 38% 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
Preston's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#12,968 of 15,516
More affordable than 16% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#9,804 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 5.0×, Preston sits in the pressured band:
national rank #12,968 of 15,516 and #9,804 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
$55,625Preston, ID median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Preston, 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 Preston, ID.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)15.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)10.7%
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
5,800
Median Income
$55,625
Median Home Value
$280,500
Median Age
34.5
Poverty Rate
10.7%
Labor force participation
59.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
15.7%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
445.7
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
63.7
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
382.0
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
47.0°F
Annual Precipitation
17.3"
Annual Snowfall
52.4"
Schools
Total Schools
5
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Preston's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
5,551 residents
2021
5,703 residents
2022
5,911 residents
2023
6,048 residents
2024
6,088 residents
2025
6,177 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
83.0%
Carpool
7.4%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.1%
Work from Home
5.9%
Other
0.6%
Based on 2,526 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 Preston. 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 Preston 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 Preston sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Preston 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, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, 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.