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Place dossier plate
SheetMN-MOTLEY-MN · Motley, MN 593 pop · income 11th 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 Motley
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Motley on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Clayton · lowest
24,554
Clayton · lowest
24,554 median HH income
9.8% of the leader · rank #1
Motley · this city
43,281
Motley · this city
43,281 median HH income
17.3% of the leader · rank #2
Lorimor · near
43,281
Lorimor · near
43,281 median HH income
17.3% of the leader · rank #3
Shell Valley · near
43,281
Shell Valley · near
43,281 median HH income
17.3% of the leader · rank #4
Ringwood · near
43,281
Ringwood · near
43,281 median HH income
17.3% of the leader · rank #5
Mossyrock · near
43,281
Mossyrock · near
43,281 median HH income
17.3% of the leader · rank #6
Sunfish Lake · highest
250,001
Sunfish Lake · 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 Motley 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: 593.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Motley - the verdict
Motley ranks in the 11th percentile for household income and the 52nd percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
11th
percentile, household income
20th
percentile, home value
36th
percentile, median rent
52nd
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: Motley, MN
Motley is a small town in Minnesota, home to 593 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Motley households earn a median of $43,281 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 4.1%. Home values in Motley run a median of $128,300, and the median resident age is 50.4 years. 8.1% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 53.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 4 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Building Boom), up 300% from five years earlier. Motley reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 1302.5 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).
Minnesota tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Minnesota at 98.6 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Near Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,125 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $225 across Minnesota, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 42.4 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Motley'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 comparison shortlist to work and mobility to reported crime to population change to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Motley, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, annual population history, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Motley?
Within Minnesota, the closest population matches are Sunfish Lake (594 residents, $250,000+ income); Heron Lake (591 residents, $66,607 income); Glenville (596 residents, $53,750 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are La Jara, CO (593 residents); Orleans, IA (593 residents); Kelso, MO (593 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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
What does the journey to work look like in Motley?
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 73.3%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Motley?
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.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1302.5 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 43% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
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 +1.6% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 4 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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 Motley?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.1%, 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
$43,281
Home value
$128,300
Value / income
3.0×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Minnesota average
F
City profile score · Motley, MN
38/100
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.
Poverty rate B
4.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime C+
145 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Cost of living D
98.6 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 F
$43,281
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
8.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Motley profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 71/100 (B) · 4.1%
Violent crime: 60/100 (C+) · 145 /100k
Cost of living: 46/100 (D) · 98.6 index
Household income: 11/100 (F) · $43,281
Bachelor's+ share: 1/100 (F) · 8.1%
Where Motley sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Motley'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 - Motley highlighted among 23 peers.Read the chart values
Motley, MN (this city): home $128,300, crime 1,303/100k
Clayton, OK : home $43,300, crime 719/100k
Heron Lake, MN : home $86,200, crime 341/100k
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 Motley compare to other US cities?
Where Motley sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income11% higher than other cities
Home value20% pricier than other cities
Median rent36% pricier than other cities
Safety52% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Minnesota and the picture shifts: Motley ranks #145 of 229 Minnesota cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Motley against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Minnesota only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Minnesota-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Motley near the bottom of Minnesota's cities
Among the 785 Minnesota cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Motley ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Motley only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#727 of 775
6th percentile in Minnesota
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 785
0th percentile in Minnesota
Median Home Value
#534 of 774
31st percentile in Minnesota
Poverty Rate
#481 of 785
38th percentile in Minnesota
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#716 of 784
8th percentile in Minnesota
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 Minnesota only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
11th percentile nationally for median household income · 52nd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Motley's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Motley'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 Motley's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$128,300Among the most affordablemore affordable than 80% 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
Motley's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#6,499 of 15,516
More affordable than 58% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#5,530 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.0×, Motley sits in the affordable band:
national rank #6,499 of 15,516 and #5,530 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
$43,281Motley, MN median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Motley, MN median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Motley, MN.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)8.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)53.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
593
Median Income
$43,281
Median Home Value
$128,300
Median Age
50.4
Poverty Rate
4.1%
Labor force participation
53.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
8.1%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1302.5
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
144.7
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1157.7
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.
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Motley's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
677 residents
2021
678 residents
2022
682 residents
2023
684 residents
2024
685 residents
2025
688 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
4
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
4
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
6.7
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
1
1
0
$0.1M
2020
2
2
0
$0.5M
2021
2
2
0
$0.5M
2022
1
1
0
$0.3M
2023
2
2
0
$0.6M
2024
4
0
4
$0.6M
Permit volume increased 300% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
73.3%
Carpool
9.6%
Public Transit
1.5%
Walk
12.6%
Work from Home
3.0%
Based on 270 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Minnesota statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $225
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Minnesota at $225 (electricity about $95 , water and sewer about $45 ).
These are Minnesota statewide averages, not a meter reading for Motley. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Minnesota's BEA cost-of-living index is 98.6 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Motley is $1,125/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Minnesota statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 42.4 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Minnesota statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Motley sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Motley compares to similar-size Minnesota 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, 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.