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Place dossier plate
SheetIN-LAKE-BRUCE-IN · Lake Bruce, IN 196 pop · income 2nd 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 Lake Bruce
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Lake Bruce on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Río Blanco co… · lowest
29,620
Río Blanco co… · lowest
29,620 median HH income
22.7% of the leader · rank #1
Arroyo Colora… · near
29,625
Arroyo Colora… · near
29,625 median HH income
22.7% of the leader · rank #2
Salida del So… · near
29,631
Salida del So… · near
29,631 median HH income
22.7% of the leader · rank #3
Lake Bruce · this city
29,643
Lake Bruce · this city
29,643 median HH income
22.7% of the leader · rank #4
Cairo · near
29,650
Cairo · near
29,650 median HH income
22.7% of the leader · rank #5
Benton Harbor · near
29,652
Benton Harbor · near
29,652 median HH income
22.7% of the leader · rank #6
Craigville · highest
130,500
Craigville · highest
130,500 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 Lake Bruce 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: 196.
Lake Bruce ranks in the 2nd percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
2nd
percentile, household income
36th
percentile, home value
27th
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: Lake Bruce, IN
Lake Bruce is a small town in Indiana, home to 196 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Lake Bruce report a median income of $29,643 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 17.1%. Typical homes in Lake Bruce are valued around $179,600, and the median resident age is 58.1 years. 8.0% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 25.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Living costs in Indiana run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Indiana at 93.3 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Below Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,096 per month statewide. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Indiana run around $235, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 45.5 out of 100 (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Lake Bruce'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; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Lake Bruce, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Lake Bruce?
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 6.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 17.1%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
What does the journey to work look like in Lake Bruce?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 72.7%. 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 Lake Bruce?
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 Dunreith (196 residents, $59,375 income); Hillsdale (195 residents, $64,091 income); Leiters Ford (194 residents). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Bradford, IA (196 residents); New Providence, IA (196 residents); Crellin, MD (196 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.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 17.1% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
93.3 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Indiana average
F
City profile score · Lake Bruce, IN
23/100
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 B
93.3 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
17.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
8.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$29,643
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Lake Bruce profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 72/100 (B) · 93.3 index
Poverty rate: 19/100 (F) · 17.1%
Bachelor's+ share: 1/100 (F) · 8.0%
Household income: 0/100 (F) · $29,643
How does Lake Bruce compare to other US cities?
Here's how Lake Bruce stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income2% higher than other cities
Home value36% 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 Lake Bruce 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 Lake Bruce near the bottom of Indiana's cities
Among the 850 Indiana cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Lake Bruce ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Lake Bruce only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#760 of 766
1st percentile in Indiana
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 850
0th percentile in Indiana
Median Home Value
#229 of 771
70th percentile in Indiana
Poverty Rate
#114 of 849
86th percentile in Indiana
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#646 of 850
23rd 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
2nd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Lake Bruce's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$179,600Among the most affordablemore affordable than 64% 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
Lake Bruce's home-value-to-income ratio: 6.1×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,141 of 15,516
More affordable than 9% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,486 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 6.1×, Lake Bruce sits in the pressured band:
national rank #14,141 of 15,516 and #10,486 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
$29,643Lake Bruce, IN median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Lake Bruce, 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 Lake Bruce, IN.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)8.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)17.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)25.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
196
Median Income
$29,643
Median Home Value
$179,600
Median Age
58.1
Poverty Rate
17.1%
Labor force participation
25.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
8.0%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
72.7%
Carpool
27.3%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
0.0%
Based on 22 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 Lake Bruce. 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 Lake Bruce 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 Lake Bruce sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Lake Bruce 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.