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Place dossier plate
SheetND-DRAKE-ND · Drake, ND 245 pop · income 15th 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 Drake
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Drake on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Pineville · lowest
34,464
Pineville · lowest
34,464 median HH income
22.5% of the leader · rank #1
Drake · this city
46,875
Drake · this city
46,875 median HH income
30.6% of the leader · rank #2
Gordonville · near
46,875
Gordonville · near
46,875 median HH income
30.6% of the leader · rank #3
Kansas · near
46,875
Kansas · near
46,875 median HH income
30.6% of the leader · rank #4
Black Oak · near
46,875
Black Oak · near
46,875 median HH income
30.6% of the leader · rank #5
Success · near
46,875
Success · near
46,875 median HH income
30.6% of the leader · rank #6
Franklin CDP… · highest
153,018
Franklin CDP… · highest
153,018 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 Drake 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: 245.
Drake ranks in the 15th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
15th
percentile, household income
3rd
percentile, home value
7th
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: Drake, ND
North Dakota's Drake is a small town, with 245 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Drake households earn a median of $46,875 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 15.0%. Drake's housing stock carries a median value of $76,700, and the median resident age is 44.5 years. Educational attainment runs 10.8% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 49.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 0 residential units were authorized in 2024 (No Permits). NOAA puts Drake's yearly average temperature at 39.5°F with 18.1 inches of precipitation per year.
Living costs in North Dakota run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts North Dakota at 89.0 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $965 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in North Dakota run around $200, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. The average commute for Drake workers runs 11.9 minutes, with 59.0% driving alone and 12.0% working from home. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 22.2 out of 100 (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Drake'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 housing and income to population change to climate and hazard context to schools and households 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 Drake, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, local building permits, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for 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
How far does income reach against housing in Drake?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.6 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 15.0%, 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. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -15 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -5.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 39.5°F, with 18.1 inches of precipitation. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for North Dakota is 22.2 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
Which cities make useful reference points for Drake?
Within North Dakota, the closest population matches are Leonard (244 residents, $72,917 income); Medina (242 residents, $51,875 income); St. John (248 residents). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Pineville, AR (245 residents); Scranton, AR (245 residents); Franklin CDP (Sacramento County), CA (245 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.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Drake?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 10.8% 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.
Matched public schools
1
Bachelor's degree+
10.8%
Poverty estimate
15.0%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
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 59.0%. The reported mean trip to work is 11.9 minutes.
Public transit
0.0%
Work from home
12.0%
Drive alone
59.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 100 workers age 16+.
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 A
89.0 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
15.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$46,875
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
10.8%
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).
Drake profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 89/100 (A) · 89.0 index
Poverty rate: 23/100 (F) · 15.0%
Household income: 16/100 (F) · $46,875
Bachelor's+ share: 9/100 (F) · 10.8%
How does Drake compare to other US cities?
Drake measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income15% higher than other cities
Home value3% pricier than other cities
Median rent7% 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 Drake against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to North Dakota only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
North Dakota-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Drake near the bottom of North Dakota's cities
Among the 246 North Dakota cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Drake ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Drake only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#200 of 227
12th percentile in North Dakota
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 246
0th percentile in North Dakota
Median Home Value
#185 of 226
18th percentile in North Dakota
Poverty Rate
#40 of 246
84th percentile in North Dakota
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#210 of 246
14th percentile in North Dakota
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 North Dakota only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
15th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Drake's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$76,700Among the most affordablemore affordable than 97% 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
Drake's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.6×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#627 of 15,516
More affordable than 96% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#613 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.6×, Drake sits in the affordable band:
national rank #627 of 15,516 and #613 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
$46,875Drake, ND median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Drake, ND median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Drake, ND.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)10.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)15.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)49.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
245
Median Income
$46,875
Median Home Value
$76,700
Median Age
44.5
Poverty Rate
15.0%
Labor force participation
49.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
10.8%
Climate
Avg Temperature
39.5°F
Annual Precipitation
18.1"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Drake's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
292 residents
2021
287 residents
2022
285 residents
2023
280 residents
2024
279 residents
2025
277 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
11.9 minutes
Drive Alone
59.0%
Carpool
7.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
16.0%
Work from Home
12.0%
Other
6.0%
Based on 100 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
North Dakota statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $200
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across North Dakota at $200 (electricity about $90 , water and sewer about $40 ).
These are North Dakota statewide averages, not a meter reading for Drake. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
North Dakota's BEA cost-of-living index is 89.0 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Drake is $965/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to North Dakota statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 22.2 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a North Dakota statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Drake sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Drake compares to similar-size North Dakota 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, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, 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.