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Place dossier plate
SheetIN-COLFAX-IN ยท Colfax, IN 926 pop ยท income 38th 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 Colfax
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Colfax on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Lambert ยท lowest
28,793
Lambert ยท lowest
28,793 median HH income
17.2% of the leader ยท rank #1
Colfax ยท this city
61,964
Colfax ยท this city
61,964 median HH income
37.0% of the leader ยท rank #2
Pine ยท near
61,964
Pine ยท near
61,964 median HH income
37.0% of the leader ยท rank #3
Tunnel Hill ยท near
61,964
Tunnel Hill ยท near
61,964 median HH income
37.0% of the leader ยท rank #4
Orangeville ยท near
61,964
Orangeville ยท near
61,964 median HH income
37.0% of the leader ยท rank #5
South Londondโฆ ยท near
61,964
South Londondโฆ ยท near
61,964 median HH income
37.0% of the leader ยท rank #6
Silverado Resโฆ ยท highest
167,596
Silverado Resโฆ ยท highest
167,596 median HH income
100.0% of the leader ยท 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 Colfax 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: 926.
Colfax ranks in the 38th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
38th
percentile, household income
15th
percentile, home value
27th
percentile, median rent
๐ 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: Colfax, IN
926 people live in Colfax, Indiana - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $61,964 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 3.7%. Typical homes in Colfax are valued around $114,300, and the median resident age is 31.7 years. About 5.9% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 60.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Living costs in Indiana run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Indiana scores 93.3 (Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,096 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $235 across Indiana, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 45.5 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Colfax'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 housing and income 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 Colfax, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Is Colfax growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +7 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.0% 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.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
How far does income reach against housing in Colfax?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 3.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
What does the journey to work look like in Colfax?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 76.6%. 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. 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Colfax?
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 Indiana, the closest population matches are Palestine (925 residents, $89,924 income); Memphis (928 residents, $116,852 income); Gilmer Park (929 residents, $61,184 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Cedar Flat, CA (926 residents); Silverado Resort, CA (926 residents); Manassa, CO (926 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.
Below median income ยท poverty 3.7% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
93.3 (US=100)
Near national cost ยท BEA RPP 2024, Indiana average
D
City profile score ยท Colfax, IN
48/100
4 published dimensions ยท 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.
Poverty rate B
3.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Cost of living B
93.3 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 โ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Household income F
$61,964
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop โฅ1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
5.9%
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).
Colfax profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 74/100 (B) ยท 3.7%
Cost of living: 72/100 (B) ยท 93.3 index
Household income: 37/100 (F) ยท $61,964
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) ยท 5.9%
How does Colfax compare to other US cities?
Colfax measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income38% higher than other cities
Home value15% pricier than other cities
Median rent27% 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 Colfax against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Indiana only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Indiana-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Colfax near the bottom of Indiana's cities
Among the 850 Indiana cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Colfax ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Colfax only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#382 of 766
50th percentile in Indiana
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 850
0th percentile in Indiana
Median Home Value
#496 of 771
36th percentile in Indiana
Poverty Rate
#544 of 849
35th percentile in Indiana
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#704 of 850
17th percentile in Indiana
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 Indiana only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
38th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Colfax's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$114,300Among the most affordablemore affordable than 85% 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 ยท 2023
Colfax's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.8ร
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0ร
National rank
#1,136 of 15,516
More affordable than 93% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,099 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.8ร, Colfax sits in the affordable band:
national rank #1,136 of 15,516 and #1,099 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 รท median household income for cities with both fields and population โฅ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0โ5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$61,964Colfax, IN median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Colfax, IN median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Colfax, IN.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)5.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)3.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)60.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
926
Median Income
$61,964
Median Home Value
$114,300
Median Age
31.7
Poverty Rate
3.7%
Labor force participation
60.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
5.9%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020โ2025
Colfax's Census PEP population estimates, 2020โ2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
707 residents
2021
704 residents
2022
701 residents
2023
706 residents
2024
712 residents
2025
714 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
76.6%
Carpool
9.4%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
2.5%
Work from Home
10.3%
Other
1.2%
Based on 406 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Indiana statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $235
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Indiana at $235 (electricity about $110 , water and sewer about $45 ).
These are Indiana statewide averages, not a meter reading for Colfax. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Indiana's BEA cost-of-living index is 93.3 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Colfax is $1,096/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Indiana statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 45.5 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Indiana statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Colfax sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Colfax compares to similar-size Indiana 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.