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Place dossier plate
SheetLA-IOTA-LA · Iota, LA 1,459 pop · income 10th 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 Iota
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Iota on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Ringgold · lowest
22,833
Ringgold · lowest
22,833 median HH income
15.3% of the leader · rank #1
Iota · this city
42,750
Iota · this city
42,750 median HH income
28.7% of the leader · rank #2
Spillville · near
42,750
Spillville · near
42,750 median HH income
28.7% of the leader · rank #3
Carson City · near
42,750
Carson City · near
42,750 median HH income
28.7% of the leader · rank #4
Morley · near
42,750
Morley · near
42,750 median HH income
28.7% of the leader · rank #5
Remer · near
42,750
Remer · near
42,750 median HH income
28.7% of the leader · rank #6
Bayou Gauche · highest
149,107
Bayou Gauche · highest
149,107 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 Iota 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: 1,459.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Iota places in the 10th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
10th
percentile, household income
31st
percentile, home value
16th
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: Iota, LA
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 1,459 residents in Iota, a small town within Louisiana. The typical household in Iota brings in $42,750 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 27.6%. Iota's housing stock carries a median value of $161,400, and the median resident age is 30.2 years. 15.0% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 57.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 0 residential units authorized here in 2024 (No Permits).
Living costs in Louisiana run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Louisiana at 88.2 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,007 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $212 across Louisiana, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 62.4 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Iota'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 schools and households to housing and income to comparison shortlist to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Iota, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history, matched public-school count, local building permits.
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.
Question 1
Is Iota growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -46 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -3.5% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
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. 15.0% 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Iota?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 27.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Iota?
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 Louisiana, the closest population matches are Bayou Gauche (1,463 residents, $149,107 income); Paincourtville (1,455 residents, $61,037 income); Simmesport (1,455 residents, $26,250 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Warren, OR (1,459 residents); Boswell's Corner, VA (1,459 residents); Hebron, IL (1,458 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.
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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Iota?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 63.8%. 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.
Drive alone
63.8%
Work from home
13.9%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 575 workers age 16+.
Low income · poverty 27.6% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
88.2 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Louisiana average
F
City profile score · Iota, LA
31/100
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 A+
88.2 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Bachelor's+ share F
15.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$42,750
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
27.6%
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).
Iota profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 92/100 (A+) · 88.2 index
Bachelor's+ share: 20/100 (F) · 15.0%
Household income: 10/100 (F) · $42,750
Poverty rate: 3/100 (F) · 27.6%
How does Iota compare to other US cities?
Here's how Iota stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income10% higher than other cities
Home value31% pricier than other cities
Median rent16% 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 Iota against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Louisiana only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Louisiana-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Iota near the bottom of Louisiana's cities
Among the 477 Louisiana cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Iota ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Iota only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#275 of 426
35th percentile in Louisiana
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 477
0th percentile in Louisiana
Median Home Value
#181 of 419
57th percentile in Louisiana
Poverty Rate
#108 of 475
77th percentile in Louisiana
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#232 of 477
51st percentile in Louisiana
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 Louisiana only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
10th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Iota's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$161,400Among the most affordablemore affordable than 69% 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
Iota's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,977 of 15,516
More affordable than 36% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,897 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.8×, Iota sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,977 of 15,516 and #7,897 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
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
$42,750Iota, LA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Iota, LA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Iota, LA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)15.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)27.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)57.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,459
Median Income
$42,750
Median Home Value
$161,400
Median Age
30.2
Poverty Rate
27.6%
Labor force participation
57.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
15.0%
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
Iota's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,299 residents
2021
1,287 residents
2022
1,271 residents
2023
1,263 residents
2024
1,262 residents
2025
1,253 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
63.8%
Carpool
17.9%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.5%
Work from Home
13.9%
Other
3.9%
Based on 575 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Louisiana statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $212
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Louisiana at $212 (electricity about $130 , water and sewer about $42 ).
These are Louisiana statewide averages, not a meter reading for Iota. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Louisiana's BEA cost-of-living index is 88.2 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Iota is $1,007/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Louisiana statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 62.4 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Louisiana statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Iota sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Iota compares to similar-size Louisiana 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.