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Place dossier plate
SheetKY-ISLAND-KY · Island, KY 616 pop · income 18th 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 Island
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Island on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Poplar Hills · lowest
23,958
Poplar Hills · lowest
23,958 median HH income
9.6% of the leader · rank #1
Pocono Springs · near
48,864
Pocono Springs · near
48,864 median HH income
19.5% of the leader · rank #2
Mexico · near
48,873
Mexico · near
48,873 median HH income
19.5% of the leader · rank #3
Island · this city
48,875
Island · this city
48,875 median HH income
19.5% of the leader · rank #4
Rexford · near
48,875
Rexford · near
48,875 median HH income
19.5% of the leader · rank #5
Sebring · near
48,887
Sebring · near
48,887 median HH income
19.6% of the leader · rank #6
Glenview · highest
250,001
Glenview · 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
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Island 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: 616.
Island ranks in the 18th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
18th
percentile, household income
2nd
percentile, home value
10th
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: Island, KY
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 616 residents in Island, a small town within Kentucky. Island households earn a median of $48,875 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 6.9%. Typical homes in Island are valued around $72,100, and the median resident age is 42.9 years. Educational attainment runs 8.2% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 44.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Living costs in Kentucky run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Kentucky at 90.2 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $984 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Kentucky run around $225, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Commute times here average 32.1 minutes, with 68.9% driving alone and 5.0% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 44.2 out of 100 (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Island'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 to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Island, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
How far does income reach against housing in Island?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 6.9%, 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. 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Island?
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 68.9%. The reported mean trip to work is 32.1 minutes.
Which cities make useful reference points for Island?
Within Kentucky, the closest population matches are Millstone (617 residents, $40,325 income); Parkway (613 residents, $85,875 income); Glenview (612 residents, $250,000+ income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Tuntutuliak, AK (616 residents); Fort Jones, CA (616 residents); Glen St. Mary, FL (616 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.
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 +11 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.5% 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.
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
90.2 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 C-
6.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$48,875
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
8.2%
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).
Island profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 85/100 (A) · 90.2 index
Poverty rate: 53/100 (C-) · 6.9%
Household income: 19/100 (F) · $48,875
Bachelor's+ share: 2/100 (F) · 8.2%
How does Island compare to other US cities?
Where Island sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income18% higher than other cities
Home value2% pricier than other cities
Median rent10% 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 Island against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Kentucky only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Kentucky-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Island near the bottom of Kentucky's cities
Among the 520 Kentucky cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Island ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Island only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#298 of 485
39th percentile in Kentucky
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 520
0th percentile in Kentucky
Median Home Value
#450 of 484
7th percentile in Kentucky
Poverty Rate
#332 of 519
35th percentile in Kentucky
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#420 of 520
19th percentile in Kentucky
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 Kentucky only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
18th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Island's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$72,100Among the most affordablemore affordable than 98% 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
Island's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#356 of 15,516
More affordable than 98% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#350 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.5×, Island sits in the affordable band:
national rank #356 of 15,516 and #350 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
$48,875Island, KY median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Island, KY median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Island, KY.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)8.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)6.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)44.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
616
Median Income
$48,875
Median Home Value
$72,100
Median Age
42.9
Poverty Rate
6.9%
Labor force participation
44.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
8.2%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Island's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
436 residents
2021
439 residents
2022
441 residents
2023
441 residents
2024
444 residents
2025
447 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
32.1 minutes
Drive Alone
68.9%
Carpool
26.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
5.0%
Based on 222 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Kentucky statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $225
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Kentucky at $225 (electricity about $115 , water and sewer about $40 ).
These are Kentucky statewide averages, not a meter reading for Island. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Kentucky's BEA cost-of-living index is 90.2 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Island is $984/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Kentucky statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 44.2 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Kentucky statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Island sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Island compares to similar-size Kentucky 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.