City profile · Oklahoma · Census ACS 2023

Ames, OK

Ames's Census ACS profile: residents, income, housing, and the joined public-record layers available for this place.

201
Residents
$43,125
Median income
$96,400
Median home
$995
Median rent (state)
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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.

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See how it ranks

State rank, size-class rank, and four peer cities for Ames.

Place dossier plate

Sheet OK-AMES-OK · Ames, OK 201 pop · income 11th pct

POP-VILLAGE · INC-LOW · COL-BELOW · SAFE-UNK · RANK-BOTTOM · PHOTO-FINISH · HOME-LOW · BOOK-UNK

  • POP-VILLAGE 201
  • INC-LOW $43,125
  • COL-BELOW 87.8
  • SAFE-UNK Safety pending
  • RANK-BOTTOM 11th
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Pine Apple
  • HOME-LOW $96,400
  • BOOK-UNK Tracts pending

Nearest income peer: Pine Apple, AL (+ $0 income $)

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 Ames

Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Ames on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.

median HH income

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.

Source U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 5-Year Estimates As of 2026-08-08

Compare beyond this state

Nationwide peers by population, income

Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Ames 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: 201.

4 peers

Similar household income

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS median household income. This city: $43,125. Population peers are excluded.

4 peers

Ames - the verdict

Ames ranks in the 11th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.

11th
percentile, household income
8th
percentile, home value
14th
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: Ames, OK

Census ACS 2023 estimates count 201 residents in Ames, a small town within Oklahoma. The typical household in Ames brings in $43,125 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 14.3%. Home values in Ames run a median of $96,400, and the median resident age is 48.6 years. Educational attainment runs 21.3% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 66.7% of working-age residents are in the labor force.

Living costs in Oklahoma run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Oklahoma at 87.8 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $995 per month statewide. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Oklahoma run around $205, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. The average commute for Ames workers runs 24.8 minutes, with 85.8% driving alone and 0.0% working from home. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 55.5 out of 100 (Moderate).

A decision-led reading path

Useful questions to ask of Ames'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 comparison shortlist to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.

For Ames, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history. No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.

Question 1

Is Ames growing, shrinking, or holding steady?

Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -5 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.6% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.

Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.

See the national growth ranking →

Question 2

What does the journey to work look like in Ames?

Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 85.8%. The reported mean trip to work is 24.8 minutes.

Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.

Compare commute patterns →

3. Comparison shortlist

Which cities make useful reference points for Ames?

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 Oklahoma, the closest population matches are Burlington (202 residents, $62,969 income); Red Rock (200 residents, $40,909 income); Liberty (199 residents, $59,792 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Ambler, AK (201 residents); Deer Creek, AZ (201 residents); Gu Oidak, AZ (201 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.

Open a side-by-side comparison →

4. Housing and income

How far does income reach against housing in Ames?

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.

The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 14.3%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.

Compare the housing trade-off →

Population

201 residents

Micro place (under 10k)

Median Household Income

$43,125 /yr

Low income · poverty 14.3% (High poverty)

Cost of Living Index (state)

87.8 (US=100)

Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Oklahoma average

City profile score · Ames, OK

40/100

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 A+
87.8 index

BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.

Bachelor's+ share F
21.3%

Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.

Poverty rate F
14.3%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.

Household income F
$43,125

Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.

Violent crime N/A
N/A

No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).

Ames profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions) 4-axis radar comparing 1 series across Cost of living, Bachelor's+ share, Poverty rate, Household income. Cost of livingBachelor's+ sharePoverty rateHousehold income 40 D
Ames profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)
Read the chart values
  • Cost of living: 94/100 (A+) · 87.8 index
  • Bachelor's+ share: 38/100 (F) · 21.3%
  • Poverty rate: 24/100 (F) · 14.3%
  • Household income: 11/100 (F) · $43,125

How does Ames compare to other US cities?

Where Ames sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.

Household income 11% higher than other cities
Home value 8% pricier than other cities
Median rent 14% 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 Ames against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Oklahoma only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.

Oklahoma-relative analysis

Median Gross Rent places Ames near the bottom of Oklahoma's cities

Among the 671 Oklahoma cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Ames ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Ames only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.

Median Household Income
#461 of 639
28th percentile in Oklahoma
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 671
0th percentile in Oklahoma
Median Home Value
#361 of 628
43rd percentile in Oklahoma
Poverty Rate
#280 of 671
58th percentile in Oklahoma
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#174 of 671
74th percentile in Oklahoma
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 Oklahoma only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.

11thIncome percentile
Gauge source note

11th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.

How Ames's home value compares nationally

Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)

$96,400 Among the most affordable more affordable than 92% of 15,600 US cities

Show national distribution $0–$25,000: 5 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $25,000–$50,000: 54 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $50,000–$75,000: 352 US cities (2%). Below this entry. $75,000–$100,000: 1,086 US cities (7%). This entry sits in this band. $100,000–$125,000: 1,516 US cities (10%). Above this entry. $125,000–$150,000: 1,170 US cities (8%). Above this entry. $150,000–$175,000: 1,278 US cities (8%). Above this entry. $175,000–$200,000: 1,229 US cities (8%). Above this entry. $200,000–$225,000: 1,035 US cities (7%). Above this entry. $225,000–$250,000: 976 US cities (6%). Above this entry. $250,000–$275,000: 754 US cities (5%). Above this entry. $275,000–$300,000: 712 US cities (5%). Above this entry. $300,000–$325,000: 521 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $325,000–$350,000: 526 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $350,000–$375,000: 465 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $375,000–$400,000: 393 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $400,000–$425,000: 317 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $425,000–$450,000: 300 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $450,000–$475,000: 307 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $475,000–$500,000: 250 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $500,000–$525,000: 160 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $525,000–$550,000: 156 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $550,000–$575,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $575,000–$600,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $600,000–$625,000: 163 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $625,000–$650,000: 167 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $650,000–$675,000: 135 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $675,000–$700,000: 101 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $700,000–$725,000: 95 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $725,000–$750,000: 71 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $750,000–$775,000: 65 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $775,000–$800,000: 70 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $800,000–$825,000: 57 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $825,000–$850,000: 67 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $850,000–$875,000: 60 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $875,000–$900,000: 58 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $900,000–$925,000: 47 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $925,000–$950,000: 37 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $950,000–$975,000: 31 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $975,000–$1,000,000: 470 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $1,000,000–$1,025,000: 0 US cities (0%). Above this entry. Ames $0 $1,025,000 every US city, bucketed by value

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

Ames's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.2×

ACS median home value divided by median household income.

Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#2,638 of 15,516
More affordable than 83% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,457 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)

At 2.2×, Ames sits in the affordable band: national rank #2,638 of 15,516 and #2,457 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

$43,125 Ames, OK median household income (Census ACS)

Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Household income distribution - Ames, OK Ames, OK's median household income ($43,125) against the U.S. national quintile-share pattern. The Lorenz curve and quintile bars are national context, not Ames, OK-specific shares. $ Household Income Distribution Ames, OK median $43,125/yr, vs. U.S. national quintile pattern QUINTILE SHARE OF AGGREGATE INCOME Lowest 20% 3.4% Second 20% 9.2% Middle 20% 15.1% Fourth 20% 23.2% Top 20% 49.1% LORENZ CURVE cumulative income vs. population 100% 0% 100% pop. 0%
Ames, OK median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Ames, OK.

Key socioeconomic indicators

Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+) 21.3%

Census ACS S1501, educational attainment

Poverty rate (households below FPL) 14.3%

Census ACS S1701, poverty status

Labor force participation (adults 16+) 66.7%

Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force

Population
201
Median Income
$43,125
Median Home Value
$96,400
Median Age
48.6
Poverty Rate
14.3%
Labor force participation
66.7%
Bachelor's Degree+
21.3%

Population Change

PEP vintage

Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025

See the fastest-growing cities →
186 residents188 residents190 residents192 residents194 residents196 residents 202020212022202320242025 194 residents 189 residents ▼ -2.6%
Ames's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.
Read the chart as text
Period Population
2020 194 residents
2021 191 residents
2022 188 residents
2023 190 residents
2024 188 residents
2025 189 residents

Commute Patterns

Commute source

How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023

Average Commute Time
24.8 minutes
Drive Alone
85.8%
Carpool
14.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
0.0%

Based on 106 workers 16 and over.

Monthly Utility Costs

Oklahoma statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $205

EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Oklahoma at $205 (electricity about $115 , water and sewer about $40 ).

These are Oklahoma statewide averages, not a meter reading for Ames. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.

Living Costs & Risk

Oklahoma's BEA cost-of-living index is 87.8 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Ames is $995/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Oklahoma statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 55.5 / 100 (Moderate).

Cost/risk geography note

Cost of living is a Oklahoma statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Ames sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.

How Ames compares to similar-size Oklahoma 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.

City Population Median Household Income
Ames (this city) 201 $43,125
Burlington 202 $62,969
Red Rock 200 $40,909
Liberty 199 $59,792
Primary sources on this page

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.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Citation & verification links Data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCities

Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES. Joins use OMB Bulletin 23-01 / FIPS keys.

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Estimate caveats

ACS and UCR figures are citywide estimates with vintage lags; they do not replace a local visit, school visit, or insurance quote.

Editorial standards, provenance, and how to cite this page

Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

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