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Place dossier plate
SheetID-SMELTERVILLE-ID · Smelterville, ID 670 pop · income 15th 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 Smelterville
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Smelterville on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Kooskia · lowest
38,167
Kooskia · lowest
38,167 median HH income
35.2% of the leader · rank #1
McLeansboro · near
46,589
McLeansboro · near
46,589 median HH income
43.0% of the leader · rank #2
Dillsboro · near
46,591
Dillsboro · near
46,591 median HH income
43.0% of the leader · rank #3
McAllister · near
46,594
McAllister · near
46,594 median HH income
43.0% of the leader · rank #4
Smelterville · this city
46,597
Smelterville · this city
46,597 median HH income
43.0% of the leader · rank #5
Elkville · near
46,600
Elkville · near
46,600 median HH income
43.0% of the leader · rank #6
Dover · highest
108,393
Dover · highest
108,393 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 Smelterville 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: 670.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Smelterville lands in the 15th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
15th
percentile, household income
16th
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: Smelterville, ID
Smelterville is a small town in Idaho, home to 670 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Smelterville households earn a median of $46,597 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 14.4%. Home values in Smelterville run a median of $117,600, and the median resident age is 49.2 years. 0.0% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 57.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 0 residential units were authorized in 2024 (No Permits).
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. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Idaho run around $170, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. The average commute for Smelterville workers runs 18.8 minutes, with 75.5% driving alone and 16.5% working from home. 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 Smelterville'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 population change to work and mobility to housing and income to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Smelterville, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, local building permits, annual population history.
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.
1. Population change
Is Smelterville 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 +38 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +4.9% 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 Smelterville?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 75.5%. The reported mean trip to work is 18.8 minutes.
How far does income reach against housing in Smelterville?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 14.4%, 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Smelterville?
Within Idaho, the closest population matches are Kooskia (683 residents, $38,167 income); Parker (643 residents, $72,188 income); Paris (634 residents, $82,500 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Avon, IL (670 residents); Mecca, IN (670 residents); Stanton, IA (670 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.
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
14.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$46,597
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
0.0%
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).
Smelterville profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 61/100 (C+) · 95.5 index
Poverty rate: 24/100 (F) · 14.4%
Household income: 16/100 (F) · $46,597
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 0.0%
How does Smelterville compare to other US cities?
Here's how Smelterville stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income15% higher than other cities
Home value16% 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 Smelterville 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 Smelterville near the bottom of Idaho's cities
Among the 215 Idaho cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Smelterville ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Smelterville only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#176 of 206
15th percentile in Idaho
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 215
0th percentile in Idaho
Median Home Value
#195 of 204
4th percentile in Idaho
Poverty Rate
#42 of 215
80th 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.
Gauge source note
15th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Smelterville's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$117,600Among the most affordablemore affordable than 84% 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
Smelterville's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#4,131 of 15,516
More affordable than 73% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,715 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.5×, Smelterville sits in the affordable band:
national rank #4,131 of 15,516 and #3,715 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
$46,597Smelterville, ID median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Smelterville, 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 Smelterville, ID.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)0.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)14.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)57.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
670
Median Income
$46,597
Median Home Value
$117,600
Median Age
49.2
Poverty Rate
14.4%
Labor force participation
57.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
0.0%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Smelterville's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
775 residents
2021
796 residents
2022
811 residents
2023
817 residents
2024
812 residents
2025
813 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
1
1
0
$0.2M
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
18.8 minutes
Drive Alone
75.5%
Carpool
8.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
16.5%
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 Smelterville. 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 Smelterville 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 Smelterville sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Smelterville 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.