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Place dossier plate
SheetKS-CHENEY-KS · Cheney, KS 2,386 pop · income 56th 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 Cheney
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Cheney on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Eureka · lowest
45,121
Eureka · lowest
45,121 median HH income
18.0% of the leader · rank #1
Crooked River… · near
75,260
Crooked River… · near
75,260 median HH income
30.1% of the leader · rank #2
Anoka · near
75,262
Anoka · near
75,262 median HH income
30.1% of the leader · rank #3
Cheney · this city
75,263
Cheney · this city
75,263 median HH income
30.1% of the leader · rank #4
Utica · near
75,268
Utica · near
75,268 median HH income
30.1% of the leader · rank #5
Greenfields · near
75,268
Greenfields · near
75,268 median HH income
30.1% of the leader · rank #6
Dover · highest
250,001
Dover · highest
250,001 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, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Cheney on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. 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: 2,386.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Cheney - the verdict
Nationally, Cheney sits in the 56th percentile for household income and the 73rd percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
56th
percentile, household income
26th
percentile, home value
6th
percentile, median rent
73rd
percentile, safety
📝 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: Cheney, KS
2,386 people live in Cheney, Kansas - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Cheney households earn a median of $75,263 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 5.5%. Home values in Cheney run a median of $148,000, and the median resident age is 36.6 years. About 27.4% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 60.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 7 residential building permits were authorized in Cheney (Building Boom), up 133% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Cheney reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 789.6 crimes per 100,000 residents, below the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score).
Living costs in Kansas run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Kansas at 90.1 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $947 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Kansas run around $217, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Commute times here average 22.4 minutes, with 78.4% driving alone and 6.8% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 29.9 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Cheney'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 work and mobility to comparison shortlist to population change to schools and households to reported crime to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Cheney, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in Cheney?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 78.4%. The reported mean trip to work is 22.4 minutes.
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 Cheney?
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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within Kansas, the closest population matches are Sterling (2,396 residents, $51,304 income); Halstead (2,435 residents, $68,750 income); Sabetha (2,326 residents, $67,794 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Delmar, DE (2,386 residents); Bourg, LA (2,386 residents); Dover, MA (2,386 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.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -5 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -0.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 7 housing units authorized in 2024. 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.
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.
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 27.4% 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.
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.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Cheney?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 789.6 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 65% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Total reported rate
789.6
Violent rate
92.9
Property rate
696.7
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
How far does income reach against housing in Cheney?
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 2.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.5%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
2.0×
Home value
$148,000
Household income
$75,263
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Above median income · poverty 5.5% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
90.1 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Kansas average
B-
City profile score · Cheney, KS
66/100
5 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 A
90.1 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime B
93 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate C+
5.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income C
$75,263
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share C-
27.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cheney profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 85/100 (A) · 90.1 index
Violent crime: 73/100 (B) · 93 /100k
Poverty rate: 62/100 (C+) · 5.5%
Household income: 55/100 (C) · $75,263
Bachelor's+ share: 53/100 (C-) · 27.4%
Where Cheney sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Cheney's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Cheney highlighted among 26 peers.Read the chart values
Cheney, KS (this city): home $148,000, crime 790/100k
Delmar, DE : home $222,700, crime 2,896/100k
Dover, MA : home $1,230,600, crime 655/100k
Taylorsville, NC : home $210,300, crime 1,196/100k
Hudson, MI : home $103,100, crime 1,024/100k
Sterling, KS : home $130,200, crime 438/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Cheney compare to other US cities?
Cheney measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income56% higher than other cities
Home value26% pricier than other cities
Median rent6% pricier than other cities
Safety73% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to Kansas alone, Cheney ranks #23 of 109 Kansas cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Cheney against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Kansas only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Kansas-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Cheney near the bottom of Kansas's cities
Among the 552 Kansas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Cheney ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Cheney only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#105 of 527
80th percentile in Kansas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 552
0th percentile in Kansas
Median Home Value
#121 of 527
77th percentile in Kansas
Poverty Rate
#318 of 552
42nd percentile in Kansas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#140 of 552
75th percentile in Kansas
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 Kansas only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
56th percentile nationally for median household income · 73rd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Cheney's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Cheney's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Cheney's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$148,000Among the most affordablemore affordable than 74% 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
Cheney's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#1,524 of 15,516
More affordable than 90% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,460 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.0×, Cheney sits in the affordable band:
national rank #1,524 of 15,516 and #1,460 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
$75,263Cheney, KS median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Cheney, KS median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Cheney, KS.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)27.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)60.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,386
Median Income
$75,263
Median Home Value
$148,000
Median Age
36.6
Poverty Rate
5.5%
Labor force participation
60.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
27.4%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
789.6
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
92.9
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
696.7
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
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
Cheney's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,183 residents
2021
2,173 residents
2022
2,162 residents
2023
2,166 residents
2024
2,169 residents
2025
2,178 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
7
housing units authorized
Single-Family
7
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
2.9
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
3
3
0
$0.4M
2020
3
3
0
$0.8M
2021
2
2
0
$0.6M
2022
5
5
0
$1.5M
2023
4
4
0
$1.3M
2024
7
7
0
$1.7M
Permit volume increased 133% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
22.4 minutes
Drive Alone
78.4%
Carpool
10.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
2.3%
Work from Home
6.8%
Other
2.5%
Based on 1,076 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Kansas statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $217
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Kansas at $217 (electricity about $110 , water and sewer about $42 ).
These are Kansas statewide averages, not a meter reading for Cheney. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Kansas's BEA cost-of-living index is 90.1 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Cheney is $947/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Kansas statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 29.9 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Kansas statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Cheney sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Cheney compares to similar-size Kansas 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, FBI UCR, 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.