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.
Place dossier plate
SheetOR-ELMIRA-OR · Elmira, OR 318 pop · income 35th 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 Elmira
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Elmira on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
East Hodge · lowest
26,146
East Hodge · lowest
26,146 median HH income
28.3% of the leader · rank #1
Newton · near
59,915
Newton · near
59,915 median HH income
64.8% of the leader · rank #2
Elmira · this city
59,917
Elmira · this city
59,917 median HH income
64.8% of the leader · rank #3
Portville · near
59,917
Portville · near
59,917 median HH income
64.8% of the leader · rank #4
Bonduel · near
59,917
Bonduel · near
59,917 median HH income
64.8% of the leader · rank #5
Belle Fourche · near
59,920
Belle Fourche · near
59,920 median HH income
64.8% of the leader · rank #6
Neahkahnie · highest
92,500
Neahkahnie · highest
92,500 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 Elmira 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: 318.
Elmira ranks in the 35th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
35th
percentile, household income
68th
percentile, home value
66th
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: Elmira, OR
318 people live in Elmira, Oregon - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Elmira households earn a median of $59,917 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 13.2%. Elmira's housing stock carries a median value of $319,100, and the median resident age is 49.3 years. About 11.0% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 55.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 3 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
Oregon carries a cost-of-living premium: the state registers 103.4 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Above Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,425 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Oregon's average monthly utility costs around $185 (state average). On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 63.4 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Elmira'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 comparison shortlist to work and mobility 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 Elmira, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for annual population history, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Elmira?
Within Oregon, the closest population matches are Silver Lake (315 residents); Rocky Point (326 residents); River Point (308 residents, $63,056 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Chickaloon, AK (318 residents); Royal Lakes, IL (318 residents); Table Grove, IL (318 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 Elmira?
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 81.3%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 11.0% 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.
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.
How far does income reach against housing in Elmira?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 13.2%, 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. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
Below median income · poverty 13.2% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
103.4 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Oregon average
F
City profile score · Elmira, OR
25/100
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.
Household income F
$59,917
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
13.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Cost of living F
103.4 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
11.0%
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).
Elmira profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 34/100 (F) · $59,917
Poverty rate: 27/100 (F) · 13.2%
Cost of living: 25/100 (F) · 103.4 index
Bachelor's+ share: 9/100 (F) · 11.0%
How does Elmira compare to other US cities?
Elmira measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income35% higher than other cities
Home value68% pricier than other cities
Median rent66% 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 Elmira against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Oregon only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Oregon-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Elmira near the bottom of Oregon's cities
Among the 395 Oregon cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Elmira ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Elmira only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#245 of 364
33rd percentile in Oregon
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 395
0th percentile in Oregon
Median Home Value
#205 of 366
44th percentile in Oregon
Poverty Rate
#68 of 395
83rd percentile in Oregon
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#322 of 395
17th percentile in Oregon
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 Oregon only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
35th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Elmira's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$319,10032nd percentilemore affordable than 32% 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
Elmira's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,356 of 15,516
More affordable than 14% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,026 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 5.3×, Elmira sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,356 of 15,516 and #10,026 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
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
$59,917Elmira, OR median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Elmira, OR median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Elmira, OR.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)11.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)13.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)55.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
318
Median Income
$59,917
Median Home Value
$319,100
Median Age
49.3
Poverty Rate
13.2%
Labor force participation
55.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
11.0%
Schools
Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
81.3%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
4.8%
Work from Home
13.9%
Based on 166 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Oregon statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $185
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Oregon at $185 (electricity about $85 , water and sewer about $50 ).
These are Oregon statewide averages, not a meter reading for Elmira. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Oregon's BEA cost-of-living index is 103.4 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Elmira is $1,425/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Oregon statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 63.4 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Oregon statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Elmira sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Elmira compares to similar-size Oregon 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, 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.