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Place dossier plate
SheetNE-DALTON-NE · Dalton, NE 470 pop · income 43rd 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 Dalton
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Dalton on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Arnoldsville · lowest
46,964
Arnoldsville · lowest
46,964 median HH income
56.1% of the leader · rank #1
Dalton · this city
65,000
Dalton · this city
65,000 median HH income
77.7% of the leader · rank #2
Athens · near
65,000
Athens · near
65,000 median HH income
77.7% of the leader · rank #3
Sweet Water · near
65,000
Sweet Water · near
65,000 median HH income
77.7% of the leader · rank #4
Graeagle · near
65,000
Graeagle · near
65,000 median HH income
77.7% of the leader · rank #5
Pensacola Sta… · near
65,000
Pensacola Sta… · near
65,000 median HH income
77.7% of the leader · rank #6
Helen · highest
83,654
Helen · highest
83,654 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 Dalton 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: 470.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Dalton places in the 43rd percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
43rd
percentile, household income
6th
percentile, home value
15th
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: Dalton, NE
Dalton is a small town in Nebraska, home to 470 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Dalton brings in $65,000 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 5.6%. Typical homes in Dalton are valued around $89,500, and the median resident age is 46.6 years. Educational attainment runs 43.8% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 59.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 50.0°F with 20.5 inches of precipitation per year and 48.1 inches of snowfall.
Living costs in Nebraska run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Nebraska scores 90.1 (Well Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,001 monthly. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Nebraska's average monthly utility costs around $207 (state average). On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 25.8 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Dalton'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 schools and households to population change to housing and income to work and mobility to comparison shortlist to climate and hazard context; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Dalton, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the education layer cover for Dalton?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 43.8% 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.
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 +1.1% 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Dalton?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.6%, 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Dalton?
Within Nebraska, the closest population matches are Trenton (468 residents, $47,500 income); Nelson (478 residents, $54,408 income); Big Springs (479 residents, $63,750 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Rancho Mesa Verde, AZ (470 residents); Red Mesa, AZ (470 residents); Arnoldsville, GA (470 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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Dalton?
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 62.8%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.0%
Work from home
16.1%
Drive alone
62.8%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 199 workers age 16+.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 50.0°F, with 20.5 inches of precipitation and 48.1 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Nebraska is 25.8 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.
Mean temperature
50.0°F
Annual precipitation
20.5 in
FEMA risk index (state avg)
25.8
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
Below median income · poverty 5.6% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
90.1 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Nebraska average
C+
City profile score · Dalton, NE
64/100
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 A
90.1 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Bachelor's+ share B+
43.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate C+
5.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income D
$65,000
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Dalton profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 85/100 (A) · 90.1 index
Bachelor's+ share: 78/100 (B+) · 43.8%
Poverty rate: 62/100 (C+) · 5.6%
Household income: 42/100 (D) · $65,000
How does Dalton compare to other US cities?
Dalton measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income43% higher than other cities
Home value6% pricier than other cities
Median rent15% 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 Dalton against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Nebraska only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Nebraska-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Dalton near the bottom of Nebraska's cities
Among the 450 Nebraska cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Dalton ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Dalton only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#215 of 439
51st percentile in Nebraska
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 450
0th percentile in Nebraska
Median Home Value
#300 of 438
31st percentile in Nebraska
Poverty Rate
#230 of 450
48th percentile in Nebraska
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#11 of 450
98th percentile in Nebraska
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 Nebraska only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
43rd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Dalton's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$89,500Among the most affordablemore affordable than 94% 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
Dalton's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#240 of 15,516
More affordable than 98% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#236 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.4×, Dalton sits in the affordable band:
national rank #240 of 15,516 and #236 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
$65,000Dalton, NE median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Dalton, NE median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Dalton, NE.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)43.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)59.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
470
Median Income
$65,000
Median Home Value
$89,500
Median Age
46.6
Poverty Rate
5.6%
Labor force participation
59.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
43.8%
Climate
Avg Temperature
50.0°F
Annual Precipitation
20.5"
Annual Snowfall
48.1"
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
Dalton's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
282 residents
2021
282 residents
2022
284 residents
2023
285 residents
2024
285 residents
2025
285 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
62.8%
Carpool
15.6%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
5.5%
Work from Home
16.1%
Based on 199 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Nebraska statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $207
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Nebraska at $207 (electricity about $100 , water and sewer about $42 ).
These are Nebraska statewide averages, not a meter reading for Dalton. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Nebraska's BEA cost-of-living index is 90.1 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Dalton is $1,001/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Nebraska statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 25.8 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Nebraska statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Dalton sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Dalton compares to similar-size Nebraska 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 ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.