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Place dossier plate
SheetOH-LAKE-DARBY-OH · Lake Darby, OH 4,323 pop · income 74th 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 Lake Darby
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Lake Darby on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Mathis · lowest
31,090
Mathis · lowest
31,090 median HH income
12.4% of the leader · rank #1
Sonterra · near
94,728
Sonterra · near
94,728 median HH income
37.9% of the leader · rank #2
South San Jos… · near
94,740
South San Jos… · near
94,740 median HH income
37.9% of the leader · rank #3
Lake Darby · this city
94,743
Lake Darby · this city
94,743 median HH income
37.9% of the leader · rank #4
Rochester · near
94,754
Rochester · near
94,754 median HH income
37.9% of the leader · rank #5
Boston · near
94,755
Boston · near
94,755 median HH income
37.9% of the leader · rank #6
Old Westbury · highest
250,001
Old Westbury · 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 Lake Darby 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: 4,323.
Lake Darby ranks in the 74th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
74th
percentile, household income
48th
percentile, home value
22nd
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: Lake Darby, OH
Lake Darby is a small town in Ohio, home to 4,323 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Lake Darby brings in $94,743 a year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 2.7%. Lake Darby's housing stock carries a median value of $220,700, and the median resident age is 37.6 years. Educational attainment runs 32.5% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 73.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Living costs in Ohio run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Ohio at 92.8 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Below Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,092 per month. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Ohio's average monthly utility costs around $228 (state average). Natural-hazard exposure scores 55.0 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Lake Darby'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 housing and income to comparison shortlist to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Lake Darby, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
How far does income reach against housing in Lake Darby?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.7%, 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 Lake Darby?
Within Ohio, the closest population matches are Huber Ridge (4,311 residents, $95,141 income); Sheffield (4,287 residents, $102,384 income); Archbold (4,369 residents, $68,634 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Indian River Shores, FL (4,324 residents); Hebbronville, TX (4,324 residents); Mathis, TX (4,322 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Lake Darby?
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 83.2%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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.
Poverty rate A-
2.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Cost of living B+
92.8 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 B
$94,743
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share C+
32.5%
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).
Lake Darby profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 81/100 (A-) · 2.7%
Cost of living: 75/100 (B+) · 92.8 index
Household income: 74/100 (B) · $94,743
Bachelor's+ share: 62/100 (C+) · 32.5%
How does Lake Darby compare to other US cities?
Where Lake Darby sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income74% higher than other cities
Home value48% pricier than other cities
Median rent22% 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 Lake Darby against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Ohio only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Ohio-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Lake Darby near the bottom of Ohio's cities
Among the 1,196 Ohio cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Lake Darby ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Lake Darby only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#184 of 1,145
84th percentile in Ohio
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,196
0th percentile in Ohio
Median Home Value
#250 of 1,164
79th percentile in Ohio
Poverty Rate
#881 of 1,196
26th percentile in Ohio
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#262 of 1,196
78th percentile in Ohio
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 Ohio only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
74th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Lake Darby's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$220,700Among the most affordablemore affordable than 52% 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
Lake Darby's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,117 of 15,516
More affordable than 80% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,872 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.3×, Lake Darby sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,117 of 15,516 and #2,872 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
$94,743Lake Darby, OH median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Lake Darby, OH median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Lake Darby, OH.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)32.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)2.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)73.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
4,323
Median Income
$94,743
Median Home Value
$220,700
Median Age
37.6
Poverty Rate
2.7%
Labor force participation
73.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
32.5%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
83.2%
Carpool
4.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
12.5%
Based on 2,345 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Ohio statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $228
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Ohio at $228 (electricity about $105 , water and sewer about $45 ).
These are Ohio statewide averages, not a meter reading for Lake Darby. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Ohio's BEA cost-of-living index is 92.8 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Lake Darby is $1,092/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Ohio statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 55.0 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Ohio statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Lake Darby sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Lake Darby compares to similar-size Ohio 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.