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Place dossier plate
SheetMT-PONDEROSA-PINES-MT · Ponderosa Pines, MT 969 pop · income 67th 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 Ponderosa Pines
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Ponderosa Pines on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Browning · lowest
34,318
Browning · lowest
34,318 median HH income
32.1% of the leader · rank #1
Kremlin · near
86,094
Kremlin · near
86,094 median HH income
80.6% of the leader · rank #2
Mount Pocono · near
86,096
Mount Pocono · near
86,096 median HH income
80.6% of the leader · rank #3
Ponderosa Pin… · this city
86,102
Ponderosa Pin… · this city
86,102 median HH income
80.6% of the leader · rank #4
Miramar · near
86,109
Miramar · near
86,109 median HH income
80.6% of the leader · rank #5
Axis · near
86,111
Axis · near
86,111 median HH income
80.6% of the leader · rank #6
Chumuckla · highest
106,782
Chumuckla · highest
106,782 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 Ponderosa Pines 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: 969.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Ponderosa Pines places in the 67th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
67th
percentile, household income
59th
percentile, home value
61st
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: Ponderosa Pines, MT
Montana's Ponderosa Pines is a small town, with 969 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $86,102 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 9.7%. Home values in Ponderosa Pines run a median of $264,600, and the median resident age is 42.6 years. About 25.5% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 74.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Living costs in Montana run below the national norm: the state registers 94.6 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,336 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Montana run around $175, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 33.3 out of 100 (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Ponderosa Pines'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 housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Ponderosa Pines, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, annual population history, matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Ponderosa Pines?
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 Montana, the closest population matches are Vaughn (970 residents, $54,250 income); Hays (967 residents, $57,875 income); Ashland (956 residents, $39,429 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Tahoma, CA (969 residents); Chumuckla, FL (969 residents); Albany, LA (969 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Ponderosa Pines?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 83.9%. 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Ponderosa Pines?
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 3.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 9.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Above median income · poverty 9.7% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
94.6 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Montana average
C
City profile score · Ponderosa Pines, MT
56/100
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 B-
94.6 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 B-
$86,102
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share C-
25.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate D
9.7%
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).
Ponderosa Pines profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 66/100 (B-) · 94.6 index
Household income: 65/100 (B-) · $86,102
Bachelor's+ share: 50/100 (C-) · 25.5%
Poverty rate: 41/100 (D) · 9.7%
How does Ponderosa Pines compare to other US cities?
Ponderosa Pines measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income67% higher than other cities
Home value59% pricier than other cities
Median rent61% 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 Ponderosa Pines against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Montana only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Montana-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Ponderosa Pines near the bottom of Montana's cities
Among the 317 Montana cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Ponderosa Pines ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Ponderosa Pines only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#47 of 282
83rd percentile in Montana
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 317
0th percentile in Montana
Median Home Value
#112 of 279
60th percentile in Montana
Poverty Rate
#116 of 315
63rd percentile in Montana
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#130 of 317
58th percentile in Montana
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 Montana only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
67th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Ponderosa Pines's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$264,60041st percentilemore affordable than 41% 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
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#7,067 of 15,516
More affordable than 54% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#5,915 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.1×, Ponderosa Pines sits in the moderate band:
national rank #7,067 of 15,516 and #5,915 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
$86,102Ponderosa Pines, MT median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Ponderosa Pines, MT median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Ponderosa Pines, MT.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)25.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)9.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)74.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
969
Median Income
$86,102
Median Home Value
$264,600
Median Age
42.6
Poverty Rate
9.7%
Labor force participation
74.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
25.5%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
83.9%
Carpool
8.7%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.5%
Work from Home
5.9%
Based on 542 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Montana statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $175
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Montana at $175 (electricity about $80 , water and sewer about $40 ).
These are Montana statewide averages, not a meter reading for Ponderosa Pines. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Montana's BEA cost-of-living index is 94.6 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Ponderosa Pines is $1,336/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Montana statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 33.3 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Montana statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Ponderosa Pines sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Ponderosa Pines compares to similar-size Montana 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.