Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
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.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Ponemah 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: 740.
Minnesota's Ponemah counts 740 residents. Source: Census ACS.
36th
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: Ponemah, MN
Minnesota's Ponemah is a small town, with 740 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The median resident age is 18.1 years. Educational attainment runs 0.0% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 35.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 1 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
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. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 42.4 out of 100 (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Ponemah'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 schools and households to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Ponemah, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, 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 Ponemah?
Within Minnesota, the closest population matches are Jasper (742 residents, $47,188 income); Foreston (735 residents, $94,219 income); Isle (747 residents, $53,056 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are New Site, AL (740 residents); Alta, CA (740 residents); Deer Park, CA (740 residents). 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 NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 0.0% 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.
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 Ponemah?
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 88.3%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Minnesota average
F
City profile score · Ponemah, MN
26/100
3 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 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.
Poverty rate F
13.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
0.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income N/A
N/A
No ACS median household income on file for this place.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Ponemah profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 46/100 (D) · 98.6 index
Poverty rate: 26/100 (F) · 13.4%
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 0.0%
How does Ponemah compare to other US cities?
Ponemah measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Median rent36% 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 Ponemah 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 Ponemah near the bottom of Minnesota's cities
Among the 785 Minnesota cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Ponemah ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Ponemah only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 785
0th percentile in Minnesota
Poverty Rate
#108 of 785
86th percentile in Minnesota
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#781 of 784
0th 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.
Income distribution context
Median household income is not available for Ponemah in the current Census ACS release (common for very small places).
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)0.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)13.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)35.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
740
Median Income
N/A
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
18.1
Poverty Rate
13.4%
Labor force participation
35.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
0.0%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
88.3%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
11.7%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
0.0%
Based on 162 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 Ponemah. 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 Ponemah 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 Ponemah sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Ponemah 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, 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.