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Place dossier plate
SheetIN-LAPEL-IN · Lapel, IN 2,568 pop · income 59th 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 Lapel
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Lapel on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Tropical Park · lowest
29,297
Tropical Park · lowest
29,297 median HH income
33.5% of the leader · rank #1
Mohave Valley · near
77,547
Mohave Valley · near
77,547 median HH income
88.6% of the leader · rank #2
Dodge Center · near
77,552
Dodge Center · near
77,552 median HH income
88.6% of the leader · rank #3
Lapel · this city
77,563
Lapel · this city
77,563 median HH income
88.6% of the leader · rank #4
Northlake · near
77,564
Northlake · near
77,564 median HH income
88.6% of the leader · rank #5
North Mankato · near
77,571
North Mankato · near
77,571 median HH income
88.7% of the leader · rank #6
Bethlehem · highest
87,500
Bethlehem · highest
87,500 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 Lapel 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: 2,568.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Lapel places in the 59th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
59th
percentile, household income
43rd
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: Lapel, IN
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 2,568 residents in Lapel, a small town within Indiana. Households in Lapel report a median income of $77,563 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 6.7%. Typical homes in Lapel are valued around $201,900, and the median resident age is 36.4 years. Educational attainment runs 28.8% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 69.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 17 residential building permits were authorized in Lapel (Building Boom), up 70% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data.
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. 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 Lapel'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 schools and households 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 Lapel, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history, local building permits, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Population change
Is Lapel 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 +239 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +10.3% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 17 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 79.0%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 28.8% 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.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Lapel?
Within Indiana, the closest population matches are Rising Sun (2,570 residents, $54,821 income); Fairmount (2,575 residents, $45,163 income); Osceola (2,583 residents, $63,063 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are England, AR (2,568 residents); Corinth, NY (2,568 residents); Bethlehem, WV (2,568 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.
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.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Lapel?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.6 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 6.7%, 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.
Household income
$77,563
Home value
$201,900
Value / income
2.6×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Above median income · poverty 6.7% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
93.3 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Indiana average
C+
City profile score · Lapel, IN
60/100
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.
Household income C
$77,563
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share C
28.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate C-
6.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Lapel profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 72/100 (B) · 93.3 index
Household income: 57/100 (C) · $77,563
Bachelor's+ share: 56/100 (C) · 28.8%
Poverty rate: 54/100 (C-) · 6.7%
How does Lapel compare to other US cities?
Where Lapel sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income59% higher than other cities
Home value43% 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 Lapel 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 Lapel near the bottom of Indiana's cities
Among the 850 Indiana cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Lapel ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Lapel only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#193 of 766
75th percentile in Indiana
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 850
0th percentile in Indiana
Median Home Value
#172 of 771
78th percentile in Indiana
Poverty Rate
#431 of 849
49th percentile in Indiana
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#156 of 850
82nd 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
59th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Lapel's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$201,900Among the most affordablemore affordable than 57% 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
Lapel's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.6×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#4,519 of 15,516
More affordable than 71% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,021 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.6×, Lapel sits in the affordable band:
national rank #4,519 of 15,516 and #4,021 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
$77,563Lapel, IN median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Lapel, 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 Lapel, IN.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)28.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)6.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)69.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,568
Median Income
$77,563
Median Home Value
$201,900
Median Age
36.4
Poverty Rate
6.7%
Labor force participation
69.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
28.8%
Schools
Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Lapel's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,331 residents
2021
2,360 residents
2022
2,381 residents
2023
2,395 residents
2024
2,518 residents
2025
2,570 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
17
housing units authorized
Single-Family
17
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
6.6
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
10
10
0
$2.6M
2020
12
12
0
$3.9M
2021
8
8
0
$2.5M
2022
4
4
0
$1.5M
2023
46
46
0
$14.8M
2024
17
17
0
$5.5M
Permit volume increased 70% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
79.0%
Carpool
3.4%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.0%
Work from Home
14.0%
Other
0.6%
Based on 1,296 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 Lapel. 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 Lapel 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 Lapel sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Lapel 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, NCES CCD, 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.