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 Wardner 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: 300.
300 people call Wardner, Idaho home. Source: Census ACS.
66th
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: Wardner, ID
Wardner is a small town in Idaho, home to 300 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Home values in Wardner run a median of $302,900, and the median resident age is 31.1 years. 17.6% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 65.8% 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 Wardner'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 comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Wardner, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Is Wardner growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +11 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +5.7% 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Wardner?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 93.6%. 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. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Which cities make useful reference points for Wardner?
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.
Within Idaho, the closest population matches are Winchester (300 residents, $43,125 income); Rockford (305 residents, $85,804 income); Onaway (306 residents, $73,571 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Coldfoot, AK (300 residents); Garland, AR (300 residents); Alma, IL (300 residents). These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
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-
2.2%
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
17.6%
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).
Wardner profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 84/100 (A-) · 2.2%
Cost of living: 61/100 (C+) · 95.5 index
Bachelor's+ share: 27/100 (F) · 17.6%
How does Wardner compare to other US cities?
Here's how Wardner stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Home value66% 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 Wardner 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 Wardner near the bottom of Idaho's cities
Among the 215 Idaho cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Wardner ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Wardner only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 215
0th percentile in Idaho
Median Home Value
#59 of 204
71st percentile in Idaho
Poverty Rate
#173 of 215
20th percentile in Idaho
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#116 of 215
46th 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.
How Wardner's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$302,90034th percentilemore affordable than 34% 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
Income distribution context
Median household income is not available for Wardner in the current Census ACS release (common for very small places).
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)17.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)2.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)65.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
300
Median Income
N/A
Median Home Value
$302,900
Median Age
31.1
Poverty Rate
2.2%
Labor force participation
65.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
17.6%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Wardner's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
194 residents
2021
200 residents
2022
203 residents
2023
206 residents
2024
205 residents
2025
205 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
93.6%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.8%
Work from Home
2.9%
Other
1.7%
Based on 171 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 Wardner. 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 Wardner 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 Wardner sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Wardner 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.