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Place dossier plate
SheetNM-WATERFLOW-NM · Waterflow, NM 1,215 pop · income 36th 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 Waterflow
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Waterflow on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Alamo · lowest
24,427
Alamo · lowest
24,427 median HH income
24.5% of the leader · rank #1
Lincoln · near
60,272
Lincoln · near
60,272 median HH income
60.4% of the leader · rank #2
Waterflow · this city
60,278
Waterflow · this city
60,278 median HH income
60.4% of the leader · rank #3
San Jose · near
60,278
San Jose · near
60,278 median HH income
60.4% of the leader · rank #4
Leesburg · near
60,278
Leesburg · near
60,278 median HH income
60.4% of the leader · rank #5
Egan · near
60,278
Egan · near
60,278 median HH income
60.4% of the leader · rank #6
North Utica · highest
99,722
North Utica · highest
99,722 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 Waterflow 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: 1,215.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Waterflow places in the 36th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
36th
percentile, household income
33rd
percentile, home value
39th
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: Waterflow, NM
New Mexico's Waterflow is a small town, with 1,215 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The typical household in Waterflow brings in $60,278 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 12.5%. Waterflow's housing stock carries a median value of $167,700, and the median resident age is 39.2 years. 10.9% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 57.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Living costs in New Mexico run below the national norm: the state registers 92.2 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,129 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $167 across New Mexico, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 58.9 out of 100 (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Waterflow'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 work and mobility to housing and income to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Waterflow, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, 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 journey to work look like in Waterflow?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 76.0%. 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. 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Waterflow?
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 2.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 12.5%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Waterflow?
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 New Mexico, the closest population matches are Iyanbito (1,213 residents, $46,667 income); Algodones (1,198 residents, $63,750 income); Alamo (1,242 residents, $24,427 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Gallant, AL (1,215 residents); North Utica, IL (1,215 residents); Big Sandy, TX (1,215 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.
Below median income · poverty 12.5% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
92.2 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, New Mexico average
F
City profile score · Waterflow, NM
39/100
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 B+
92.2 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Household income F
$60,278
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
12.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
10.9%
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).
Waterflow profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 77/100 (B+) · 92.2 index
Household income: 35/100 (F) · $60,278
Poverty rate: 30/100 (F) · 12.5%
Bachelor's+ share: 9/100 (F) · 10.9%
How does Waterflow compare to other US cities?
Here's how Waterflow stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income36% higher than other cities
Home value33% pricier than other cities
Median rent39% 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 Waterflow against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to New Mexico only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
New Mexico-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Waterflow near the bottom of New Mexico's cities
Among the 409 New Mexico cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Waterflow ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Waterflow only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#144 of 324
56th percentile in New Mexico
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 409
0th percentile in New Mexico
Median Home Value
#177 of 324
45th percentile in New Mexico
Poverty Rate
#199 of 408
50th percentile in New Mexico
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#266 of 409
34th percentile in New Mexico
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 New Mexico only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
36th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Waterflow's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$167,700Among the most affordablemore affordable than 67% 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
Waterflow's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,486 of 15,516
More affordable than 65% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,774 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.8×, Waterflow sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,486 of 15,516 and #4,774 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
$60,278Waterflow, NM median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Waterflow, NM median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Waterflow, NM.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)10.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)12.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)57.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,215
Median Income
$60,278
Median Home Value
$167,700
Median Age
39.2
Poverty Rate
12.5%
Labor force participation
57.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
10.9%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
76.0%
Carpool
9.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
14.8%
Based on 488 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
New Mexico statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $167
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across New Mexico at $167 (electricity about $85 , water and sewer about $42 ).
These are New Mexico statewide averages, not a meter reading for Waterflow. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
New Mexico's BEA cost-of-living index is 92.2 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Waterflow is $1,129/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to New Mexico statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 58.9 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a New Mexico statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Waterflow sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Waterflow compares to similar-size New Mexico 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, 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.