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Place dossier plate
SheetNE-LAUREL-NE · Laurel, NE 947 pop · income 29th 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 Laurel
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Laurel on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Dolores · lowest
33,438
Dolores · lowest
33,438 median HH income
34.5% of the leader · rank #1
Laurel · this city
56,250
Laurel · this city
56,250 median HH income
58.0% of the leader · rank #2
St. Florian · near
56,250
St. Florian · near
56,250 median HH income
58.0% of the leader · rank #3
Koliganek · near
56,250
Koliganek · near
56,250 median HH income
58.0% of the leader · rank #4
Newhalen · near
56,250
Newhalen · near
56,250 median HH income
58.0% of the leader · rank #5
St. Michael · near
56,250
St. Michael · near
56,250 median HH income
58.0% of the leader · rank #6
Arlington · highest
97,031
Arlington · highest
97,031 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 Laurel 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: 947.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Laurel lands in the 29th percentile for household income and the 99th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
29th
percentile, household income
28th
percentile, home value
15th
percentile, median rent
99th
percentile, safety
📝 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: Laurel, NE
Laurel is a small town in Nebraska, home to 947 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Laurel report a median income of $56,250 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 9.0%. Laurel's housing stock carries a median value of $152,500, and the median resident age is 42.1 years. Educational attainment runs 37.8% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 70.8% 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). Laurel reports a comparatively low crime rate: per-100,000 total crime stands at 0.0 in FBI UCR data, below the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Living costs in Nebraska run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Nebraska at 90.1 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,001 per month. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Nebraska's average monthly utility costs around $207 (state average). FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 25.8 out of 100 (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Laurel'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 comparison shortlist to population change to housing and income to reported crime to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Laurel, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, annual population history, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Laurel?
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.
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 37.8% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Laurel?
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 Nebraska, the closest population matches are Benkelman (946 residents, $42,500 income); Waterloo (950 residents, $75,417 income); Crawford (957 residents, $58,438 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Dolores, CO (947 residents); New Berlin, NY (947 residents); Salineville, OH (947 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.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -14 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.4% 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.
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.
How far does income reach against housing in Laurel?
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 2.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 9.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Laurel?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 0.0 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 100% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Total reported rate
0.0
Violent rate
0.0
Property rate
0.0
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
What does the journey to work look like in Laurel?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 85.3%. 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. 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.
Drive alone
85.3%
Work from home
5.1%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 551 workers age 16+.
Below median income · poverty 9.0% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
90.1 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Nebraska average
C+
City profile score · Laurel, NE
63/100
5 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.
Violent crime A+
0 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
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
37.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate D
9.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$56,250
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Laurel profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 97/100 (A+) · 0 /100k
Cost of living: 85/100 (A) · 90.1 index
Bachelor's+ share: 71/100 (B) · 37.8%
Poverty rate: 44/100 (D) · 9.0%
Household income: 29/100 (F) · $56,250
How does Laurel compare to other US cities?
Here's how Laurel stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income29% higher than other cities
Home value28% pricier than other cities
Median rent15% pricier than other cities
Safety99% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Nebraska and the picture shifts: Laurel ranks #1 of 44 Nebraska cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Laurel 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 Laurel near the bottom of Nebraska's cities
Among the 450 Nebraska cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Laurel ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Laurel only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#304 of 439
30th percentile in Nebraska
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 450
0th percentile in Nebraska
Median Home Value
#139 of 438
68th percentile in Nebraska
Poverty Rate
#146 of 450
67th percentile in Nebraska
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#24 of 450
95th 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
29th percentile nationally for median household income · 99th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Laurel's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Laurel's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Laurel's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$152,500Among the most affordablemore affordable than 72% 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
Laurel's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,086 of 15,516
More affordable than 67% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,458 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.7×, Laurel sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,086 of 15,516 and #4,458 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
$56,250Laurel, NE median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Laurel, 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 Laurel, NE.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)37.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)9.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)70.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
947
Median Income
$56,250
Median Home Value
$152,500
Median Age
42.1
Poverty Rate
9.0%
Labor force participation
70.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
37.8%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Laurel's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
975 residents
2021
963 residents
2022
968 residents
2023
951 residents
2024
958 residents
2025
961 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
1
1
0
$0.2M
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
Drive Alone
85.3%
Carpool
7.4%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
2.2%
Work from Home
5.1%
Based on 551 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 Laurel. 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 Laurel 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 Laurel sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Laurel 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, FBI UCR, 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.