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Place dossier plate
SheetNE-MASON-CITY-NE · Mason City, NE 175 pop · income 19th 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 Mason City
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Mason City on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Bushnell · lowest
37,917
Bushnell · lowest
37,917 median HH income
37.2% of the leader · rank #1
Mason City · this city
49,917
Mason City · this city
49,917 median HH income
49.0% of the leader · rank #2
Heber Springs · near
49,917
Heber Springs · near
49,917 median HH income
49.0% of the leader · rank #3
Buda · near
49,922
Buda · near
49,922 median HH income
49.0% of the leader · rank #4
Grove City · near
49,922
Grove City · near
49,922 median HH income
49.0% of the leader · rank #5
Blytheville · near
49,928
Blytheville · near
49,928 median HH income
49.0% of the leader · rank #6
Cheney · highest
101,932
Cheney · highest
101,932 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 Mason City 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: 175.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Mason City lands in the 19th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
19th
percentile, household income
35th
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: Mason City, NE
Mason City is a small town in Nebraska, home to 175 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $49,917 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 22.2%. Home values in Mason City run a median of $175,700, and the median resident age is 27.8 years. 44.4% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 56.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 49.5°F with 26.3 inches of precipitation per year and 25.9 inches of snowfall.
Living costs in Nebraska run below the national norm: the state registers 90.1 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Well Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. 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). Commute times here average 20.3 minutes, with 98.8% driving alone and 1.3% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. 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 Mason City'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 housing and income to work and mobility to climate and hazard context to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Mason City, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, 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.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Mason City?
Within Nebraska, the closest population matches are Bladen (174 residents, $63,194 income); Cheney (174 residents, $101,932 income); Bushnell (177 residents, $37,917 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Mormon Lake, AZ (175 residents); Tupman, CA (175 residents); Vona, CO (175 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Mason City?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 22.2%, 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. 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Mason City?
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 98.8%. The reported mean trip to work is 20.3 minutes.
What physical conditions frame life in Mason City?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 49.5°F, with 26.3 inches of precipitation and 25.9 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.
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.
Population change
Is Mason City 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 +2 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.4% 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.
Period change
+1.4%
2025 estimate
149
2020 estimate
147
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Low income · poverty 22.2% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
90.1 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Nebraska average
D
City profile score · Mason City, NE
45/100
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+
44.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$49,917
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
22.2%
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).
Mason City profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 85/100 (A) · 90.1 index
Bachelor's+ share: 79/100 (B+) · 44.4%
Household income: 20/100 (F) · $49,917
Poverty rate: 10/100 (F) · 22.2%
How does Mason City compare to other US cities?
Where Mason City sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income19% higher than other cities
Home value35% 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 Mason City 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 Mason City near the bottom of Nebraska's cities
Among the 450 Nebraska cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Mason City ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Mason City only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#369 of 439
16th percentile in Nebraska
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 450
0th percentile in Nebraska
Median Home Value
#87 of 438
80th percentile in Nebraska
Poverty Rate
#16 of 450
96th percentile in Nebraska
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#10 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
19th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Mason City's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$175,700Among the most affordablemore affordable than 65% 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
Mason City's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,044 of 15,516
More affordable than 42% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,288 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.5×, Mason City sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,044 of 15,516 and #7,288 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
$49,917Mason City, NE median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Mason City, 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 Mason City, NE.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)44.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)22.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)56.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
175
Median Income
$49,917
Median Home Value
$175,700
Median Age
27.8
Poverty Rate
22.2%
Labor force participation
56.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
44.4%
Climate
Avg Temperature
49.5°F
Annual Precipitation
26.3"
Annual Snowfall
25.9"
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Mason City's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
147 residents
2021
149 residents
2022
148 residents
2023
149 residents
2024
148 residents
2025
149 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
20.3 minutes
Drive Alone
98.8%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
1.3%
Based on 80 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 Mason City. 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 Mason City 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 Mason City sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Mason City 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, 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.