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 Williams 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: 219.
219 people call Williams, Minnesota home. Source: Census ACS.
0th
percentile, home value
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: Williams, MN
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 219 residents in Williams, a small town within Minnesota. Williams's housing stock carries a median value of $26,800, and the median resident age is 43.0 years. 2.2% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 43.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,125 per month. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Minnesota's average monthly utility costs around $225 (state average). The average commute for Williams workers runs 19.3 minutes, with 69.6% driving alone and 30.4% working from home. 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 Williams'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 work and mobility to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Williams, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Population change
Is Williams growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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 +3 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.0% 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Williams?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 69.6%. The reported mean trip to work is 19.3 minutes.
Which cities make useful reference points for Williams?
Within Minnesota, the closest population matches are Calumet (219 residents, $40,833 income); Hayward (219 residents, $53,750 income); Chickamaw Beach (218 residents, $85,625 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Vandervoort, AR (219 residents); Axson, GA (219 residents); Huetter, ID (219 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.
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Minnesota average
F
City profile score · Williams, 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
13.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
2.2%
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).
Williams profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 46/100 (D) · 98.6 index
Poverty rate: 26/100 (F) · 13.5%
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 2.2%
How does Williams compare to other US cities?
Williams measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Home value0% pricier than other cities
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 Williams 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 Williams near the bottom of Minnesota's cities
Among the 785 Minnesota cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Williams ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Williams only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 785
0th percentile in Minnesota
Median Home Value
#770 of 774
1st percentile in Minnesota
Poverty Rate
#105 of 785
86th percentile in Minnesota
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#775 of 784
1st 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.
How Williams's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$26,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 100% 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
Income distribution context
Median household income is not available for Williams in the current Census ACS release (common for very small places).
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)2.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)13.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)43.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
219
Median Income
N/A
Median Home Value
$26,800
Median Age
43.0
Poverty Rate
13.5%
Labor force participation
43.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
2.2%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Williams's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
153 residents
2021
158 residents
2022
160 residents
2023
156 residents
2024
155 residents
2025
156 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
19.3 minutes
Drive Alone
69.6%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
30.4%
Based on 79 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 Williams. 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 Williams 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 Williams sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Williams 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, 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.