Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
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.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Searchlight 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: 329.
Searchlight has 329 residents in Nevada. Source: Census ACS.
20th
percentile, home value
67th
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: Searchlight, NV
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 329 residents in Searchlight, a small town within Nevada. Home values in Searchlight run a median of $128,200, and the median resident age is 68.0 years. About 8.0% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 21.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 64.0°F with 7.8 inches of precipitation per year and 0.5 inches of snowfall.
Nevada tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: the state registers 100.0 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Near Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,428 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Nevada's average monthly utility costs around $190 (state average). On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 46.2 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Searchlight'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 work and mobility to climate and hazard context to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Searchlight, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for annual population history, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, 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 Searchlight?
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 1 public school within the city match. 8.0% 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Searchlight?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 81.2%. 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.
What physical conditions frame life in Searchlight?
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.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 64.0°F, with 7.8 inches of precipitation and 0.5 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Nevada is 46.2 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Searchlight?
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 Nevada, the closest population matches are Fort McDermitt (326 residents, $23,182 income); Lakeridge (320 residents, $88,611 income); Skyland (318 residents, $95,192 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Jerome, AZ (329 residents); Herlong, CA (329 residents); Carlton, GA (329 residents). These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
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 D
100.0 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 F
8.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
29.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income N/A
N/A
No ACS median household income on file for this place.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Searchlight profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 40/100 (D) · 100.0 index
Bachelor's+ share: 1/100 (F) · 8.0%
Poverty rate: 0/100 (F) · 29.6%
How does Searchlight compare to other US cities?
Searchlight measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Home value20% pricier than other cities
Median rent67% 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 Searchlight against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Nevada only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Nevada-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Searchlight near the bottom of Nevada's cities
Among the 111 Nevada cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Searchlight ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Searchlight only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 111
0th percentile in Nevada
Median Home Value
#83 of 97
14th percentile in Nevada
Poverty Rate
#4 of 111
96th percentile in Nevada
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#102 of 111
8th percentile in Nevada
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 Nevada only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
How Searchlight's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$128,200Among the most affordablemore affordable than 80% 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
Income distribution context
Median household income is not available for Searchlight in the current Census ACS release (common for very small places).
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)8.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)29.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)21.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
329
Median Income
N/A
Median Home Value
$128,200
Median Age
68.0
Poverty Rate
29.6%
Labor force participation
21.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
8.0%
Climate
Avg Temperature
64.0°F
Annual Precipitation
7.8"
Annual Snowfall
0.5"
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
81.2%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
18.8%
Work from Home
0.0%
Based on 69 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Nevada statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $190
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Nevada at $190 (electricity about $105 , water and sewer about $55 ).
These are Nevada statewide averages, not a meter reading for Searchlight. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Nevada's BEA cost-of-living index is 100.0 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Searchlight is $1,428/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Nevada statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 46.2 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Nevada statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Searchlight sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Searchlight compares to similar-size Nevada 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.