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Place dossier plate
SheetMI-DOLLAR-BAY-MI · Dollar Bay, MI 1,070 pop · income 41st 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 Dollar Bay
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Dollar Bay on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Farwell · lowest
40,667
Farwell · lowest
40,667 median HH income
25.7% of the leader · rank #1
Dollar Bay · this city
63,500
Dollar Bay · this city
63,500 median HH income
40.1% of the leader · rank #2
Harvel · near
63,500
Harvel · near
63,500 median HH income
40.1% of the leader · rank #3
Pearl City · near
63,500
Pearl City · near
63,500 median HH income
40.1% of the leader · rank #4
La Crosse · near
63,500
La Crosse · near
63,500 median HH income
40.1% of the leader · rank #5
Wilkinson · near
63,500
Wilkinson · near
63,500 median HH income
40.1% of the leader · rank #6
Lamont · highest
158,456
Lamont · highest
158,456 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 Dollar Bay 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: 1,070.
Dollar Bay ranks in the 41st percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
41st
percentile, household income
42nd
percentile, home value
32nd
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: Dollar Bay, MI
Michigan's Dollar Bay is a small town, with 1,070 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The typical household in Dollar Bay brings in $63,500 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 9.8%. Dollar Bay's housing stock carries a median value of $196,200, and the median resident age is 31.2 years. About 22.1% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 59.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 1 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
Living costs in Michigan run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Michigan scores 96.2 (Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,113 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $238 across Michigan, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 49.6 out of 100 (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Dollar Bay'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 schools and households to work and mobility to comparison shortlist to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Dollar Bay, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the education layer cover for Dollar Bay?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 22.1% 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 matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
What does the journey to work look like in Dollar Bay?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 86.4%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Which cities make useful reference points for Dollar Bay?
Within Michigan, the closest population matches are Lakes of the North (1,076 residents, $65,536 income); Lamont (1,078 residents, $158,456 income); Fostoria (1,081 residents, $95,491 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Weeki Wachee Gardens, FL (1,070 residents); St. Anne, IL (1,070 residents); Tri-Lakes, IN (1,070 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Dollar Bay?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 9.8%, 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.
Below median income · poverty 9.8% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
96.2 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Michigan average
D
City profile score · Dollar Bay, MI
44/100
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 C
96.2 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Household income D
$63,500
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate D
9.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share D
22.1%
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).
Dollar Bay profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 57/100 (C) · 96.2 index
Household income: 40/100 (D) · $63,500
Poverty rate: 40/100 (D) · 9.8%
Bachelor's+ share: 40/100 (D) · 22.1%
How does Dollar Bay compare to other US cities?
Dollar Bay measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income41% higher than other cities
Home value42% pricier than other cities
Median rent32% 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 Dollar Bay against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Michigan only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Michigan-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Dollar Bay near the bottom of Michigan's cities
Among the 727 Michigan cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Dollar Bay ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Dollar Bay only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#305 of 718
58th percentile in Michigan
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 727
0th percentile in Michigan
Median Home Value
#230 of 721
68th percentile in Michigan
Poverty Rate
#309 of 727
57th percentile in Michigan
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#311 of 727
57th percentile in Michigan
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 Michigan only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
41st percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Dollar Bay's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$196,200Among the most affordablemore affordable than 58% 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
Dollar Bay's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.1×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#7,144 of 15,516
More affordable than 54% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#5,967 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.1×, Dollar Bay sits in the moderate band:
national rank #7,144 of 15,516 and #5,967 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
$63,500Dollar Bay, MI median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Dollar Bay, MI median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Dollar Bay, MI.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)22.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)9.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)59.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,070
Median Income
$63,500
Median Home Value
$196,200
Median Age
31.2
Poverty Rate
9.8%
Labor force participation
59.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
22.1%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
86.4%
Carpool
5.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
2.8%
Work from Home
5.3%
Based on 434 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Michigan statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $238
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Michigan at $238 (electricity about $105 , water and sewer about $48 ).
These are Michigan statewide averages, not a meter reading for Dollar Bay. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Michigan's BEA cost-of-living index is 96.2 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Dollar Bay is $1,113/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Michigan statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 49.6 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Michigan statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Dollar Bay sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Dollar Bay compares to similar-size Michigan 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 ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.