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Place dossier plate
SheetOH-PLAIN-CITY-OH · Plain City, OH 3,712 pop · income 68th 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 Plain City
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Plain City on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Lowell · lowest
51,829
Lowell · lowest
51,829 median HH income
32.2% of the leader · rank #1
Dousman · near
87,011
Dousman · near
87,011 median HH income
54.1% of the leader · rank #2
Plain City · this city
87,018
Plain City · this city
87,018 median HH income
54.1% of the leader · rank #3
Twain Harte · near
87,018
Twain Harte · near
87,018 median HH income
54.1% of the leader · rank #4
Williamstown · near
87,021
Williamstown · near
87,021 median HH income
54.1% of the leader · rank #5
Roessleville · near
87,022
Roessleville · near
87,022 median HH income
54.1% of the leader · rank #6
Deer Park · highest
160,750
Deer Park · highest
160,750 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, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Plain City on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. 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: 3,712.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Plain City - the verdict
Nationally, Plain City sits in the 68th percentile for household income and the 97th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
68th
percentile, household income
69th
percentile, home value
22nd
percentile, median rent
97th
percentile, safety
📝 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: Plain City, OH
3,712 people live in Plain City, Ohio - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Plain City report a median income of $87,018 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 4.3%. Home values in Plain City run a median of $325,400, and the median resident age is 40.1 years. 34.3% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 66.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 0 residential units authorized here in 2024 (No Permits), down 100% from five years earlier. Plain City reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 136.2 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Living costs in Ohio run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Ohio scores 92.8 (Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. 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). On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 55.0 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Plain 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 population change to work and mobility to reported crime to comparison shortlist to schools and households to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Plain City, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, local building permits, commute-mode shares, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Population change
Is Plain 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 +166 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +4.0% 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Plain 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. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 78.7%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Plain City?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 136.2 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 94% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Which cities make useful reference points for Plain City?
Within Ohio, the closest population matches are Richfield (3,711 residents, $78,426 income); Greentown (3,714 residents, $120,417 income); Greenhills (3,693 residents, $74,337 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Hebron, IN (3,712 residents); Deer Park, IL (3,711 residents); Whiteman AFB, MO (3,713 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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
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 Plain City?
The NCES join finds 6 public schools within the city match. 34.3% 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 city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
Matched public schools
6
Bachelor's degree+
34.3%
Poverty estimate
4.3%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
How far does income reach against housing in Plain City?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.3%, 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.
Household income
$87,018
Home value
$325,400
Value / income
3.7×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Above median income · poverty 4.3% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
92.8 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Ohio average
B
City profile score · Plain City, OH
73/100
5 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.
Violent crime A+
23 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger 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.
Poverty rate B
4.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income B-
$87,018
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share B-
34.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Plain City profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 91/100 (A+) · 23 /100k
Cost of living: 75/100 (B+) · 92.8 index
Poverty rate: 70/100 (B) · 4.3%
Household income: 66/100 (B-) · $87,018
Bachelor's+ share: 65/100 (B-) · 34.3%
Where Plain City sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Plain City's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Plain City highlighted among 25 peers.Read the chart values
Plain City, OH (this city): home $325,400, crime 136/100k
Lowell, NC : home $152,200, crime 1,589/100k
Elkins, AR : home $190,100, crime 1,132/100k
Greenhills, OH : home $166,000, crime 1,598/100k
Mogadore, OH : home $168,400, crime 1,133/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Plain City compare to other US cities?
Where Plain City sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income68% higher than other cities
Home value69% pricier than other cities
Median rent22% pricier than other cities
Safety97% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to Ohio alone, Plain City ranks #5 of 281 Ohio cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Plain City 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 Plain City near the bottom of Ohio's cities
Among the 1,196 Ohio cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Plain City ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Plain City only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#240 of 1,145
79th percentile in Ohio
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,196
0th percentile in Ohio
Median Home Value
#89 of 1,164
92nd percentile in Ohio
Poverty Rate
#754 of 1,196
36th percentile in Ohio
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#234 of 1,196
80th 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
68th percentile nationally for median household income · 97th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Plain City's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Plain City's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Plain City's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$325,40031st percentilemore affordable than 31% 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
Plain City's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,848 of 15,516
More affordable than 37% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,811 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.7×, Plain City sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,848 of 15,516 and #7,811 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
$87,018Plain City, OH median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Plain City, 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 Plain City, OH.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)34.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)66.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
3,712
Median Income
$87,018
Median Home Value
$325,400
Median Age
40.1
Poverty Rate
4.3%
Labor force participation
66.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
34.3%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
136.2
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
22.7
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
113.5
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
6
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Plain City's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
4,156 residents
2021
4,363 residents
2022
4,343 residents
2023
4,351 residents
2024
4,373 residents
2025
4,322 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
82
82
0
$21.6M
2020
81
81
0
$21.5M
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
Permit volume decreased 100% from 2019 to 2022.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
78.7%
Carpool
4.8%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.0%
Work from Home
15.4%
Based on 1,942 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 Plain City. 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 Plain City 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 Plain City sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Plain City 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, FBI UCR, 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.