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Place dossier plate
SheetNE-WAKEFIELD-NE · Wakefield, NE 1,288 pop · income 31st pct · 2 tracts
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 Wakefield
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Wakefield on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Louisville · lowest
44,318
Louisville · lowest
44,318 median HH income
17.7% of the leader · rank #1
Wakefield · this city
57,500
Wakefield · this city
57,500 median HH income
23.0% of the leader · rank #2
Pitkas Point · near
57,500
Pitkas Point · near
57,500 median HH income
23.0% of the leader · rank #3
Meredosia · near
57,500
Meredosia · near
57,500 median HH income
23.0% of the leader · rank #4
Wataga · near
57,500
Wataga · near
57,500 median HH income
23.0% of the leader · rank #5
Auburn · near
57,500
Auburn · near
57,500 median HH income
23.0% of the leader · rank #6
Brookside · highest
250,001
Brookside · highest
250,001 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 Wakefield 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: 1,288.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Wakefield lands in the 31st percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
31st
percentile, household income
13th
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: Wakefield, NE
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 1,288 residents in Wakefield, a small town within Nebraska. The typical household in Wakefield brings in $57,500 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 2.5%. Typical homes in Wakefield are valued around $110,300, and the median resident age is 37.1 years. About 18.4% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 66.9% 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), down 100% from five years earlier. The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 48.4°F with 30.7 inches of precipitation per year and 35.5 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. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,001 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $207 across Nebraska, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. 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 Wakefield'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 climate and hazard context to housing and income to schools and households to comparison shortlist to within-city variation to work and mobility to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Wakefield, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What physical conditions frame life in Wakefield?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 48.4°F, with 30.7 inches of precipitation and 35.5 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Wakefield?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.5%, 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 Wakefield?
Within Nebraska, the closest population matches are Wymore (1,287 residents, $56,051 income); Pender (1,262 residents, $67,419 income); Fort Calhoun (1,246 residents, $96,071 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Louisville, IL (1,288 residents); Manly, IA (1,288 residents); Adrian, MN (1,288 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.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
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 Wakefield?
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 18.4% 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
2
Bachelor's degree+
18.4%
Poverty estimate
2.5%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What does the journey to work look like in Wakefield?
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 63.0%. 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
6.8%
Drive alone
63.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 575 workers age 16+.
Is Wakefield growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +4 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.3% 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.
Period change
+0.3%
2025 estimate
1,527
2020 estimate
1,523
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
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.
Poverty rate A-
2.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$57,500
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
18.4%
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).
Wakefield profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 85/100 (A) · 90.1 index
Poverty rate: 82/100 (A-) · 2.5%
Household income: 31/100 (F) · $57,500
Bachelor's+ share: 30/100 (F) · 18.4%
How does Wakefield compare to other US cities?
Wakefield measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income31% higher than other cities
Home value13% 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 Wakefield 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 Wakefield near the bottom of Nebraska's cities
Among the 450 Nebraska cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Wakefield ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Wakefield only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#289 of 439
34th percentile in Nebraska
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 450
0th percentile in Nebraska
Median Home Value
#234 of 438
47th percentile in Nebraska
Poverty Rate
#337 of 450
25th percentile in Nebraska
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#263 of 450
41st 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
31st percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Wakefield's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$110,300Among the most affordablemore affordable than 87% 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
Wakefield's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#1,367 of 15,516
More affordable than 91% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,317 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.9×, Wakefield sits in the affordable band:
national rank #1,367 of 15,516 and #1,317 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
$57,500Wakefield, NE median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Wakefield, 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 Wakefield, NE.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)18.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)2.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)66.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,288
Median Income
$57,500
Median Home Value
$110,300
Median Age
37.1
Poverty Rate
2.5%
Labor force participation
66.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
18.4%
Climate
Avg Temperature
48.4°F
Annual Precipitation
30.7"
Annual Snowfall
35.5"
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
Wakefield's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,523 residents
2021
1,525 residents
2022
1,529 residents
2023
1,521 residents
2024
1,523 residents
2025
1,527 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
3
3
0
$0.7M
2020
3
3
0
$0.5M
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
3
3
0
$0.8M
2024
0
0
0
-
Permit volume decreased 100% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
63.0%
Carpool
15.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
15.1%
Work from Home
6.8%
Based on 575 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 Wakefield. 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 Wakefield 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 Wakefield sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Wakefield 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 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.