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Place dossier plate
SheetOR-FALLS-CITY-OR · Falls City, OR 1,222 pop · income 21st 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 Falls City
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Falls City on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Falls City · this city · lowest
51,094
Falls City · this city · lowest
51,094 median HH income
47.9% of the leader · rank #1
Mullan · near
51,094
Mullan · near
51,094 median HH income
47.9% of the leader · rank #2
Farmington · near
51,094
Farmington · near
51,094 median HH income
47.9% of the leader · rank #3
Micro · near
51,094
Micro · near
51,094 median HH income
47.9% of the leader · rank #4
Sunbury · near
51,094
Sunbury · near
51,094 median HH income
47.9% of the leader · rank #5
Wye · highest
106,667
Wye · highest
106,667 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #6
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 Falls City 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: 1,222.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Falls City lands in the 21st percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
21st
percentile, household income
61st
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: Falls City, OR
1,222 people live in Falls City, Oregon - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Falls City households earn a median of $51,094 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 13.0%. Falls City's housing stock carries a median value of $275,400, and the median resident age is 36.0 years. 14.7% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 46.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
NOAA puts Falls City's yearly average temperature at 50.9°F with 81.2 inches of precipitation per year and 9.6 inches of snowfall.
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. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Oregon run around $185, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. 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 Falls 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 housing and income to comparison shortlist to population change to work and mobility to schools and households to climate and hazard context; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Falls City, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for 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
How far does income reach against housing in Falls City?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 13.0%, 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Falls City?
Within Oregon, the closest population matches are Lowell (1,221 residents, $90,078 income); Pilot Rock (1,220 residents, $85,795 income); Oakland (1,237 residents, $58,272 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Roland, AR (1,222 residents); Spicer, MN (1,222 residents); Summer Set, MO (1,222 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.
Is Falls City growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -13 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.2% 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Falls 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. 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 80.3%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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 Falls City?
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 14.7% 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 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.
Matched public schools
2
Bachelor's degree+
14.7%
Poverty estimate
13.0%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What physical conditions frame life in Falls City?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 50.9°F, with 81.2 inches of precipitation and 9.6 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Oregon is 63.4 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.
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.
Mean temperature
50.9°F
Annual precipitation
81.2 in
FEMA risk index (state avg)
63.4
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
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 F
13.0%
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.
Household income F
$51,094
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
14.7%
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).
Falls City profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 28/100 (F) · 13.0%
Cost of living: 25/100 (F) · 103.4 index
Household income: 22/100 (F) · $51,094
Bachelor's+ share: 19/100 (F) · 14.7%
How does Falls City compare to other US cities?
Where Falls City sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income21% higher than other cities
Home value61% 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 Falls City 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 Falls City near the bottom of Oregon's cities
Among the 395 Oregon cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Falls City ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Falls City only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#300 of 364
18th percentile in Oregon
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 395
0th percentile in Oregon
Median Home Value
#250 of 366
32nd percentile in Oregon
Poverty Rate
#70 of 395
82nd percentile in Oregon
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#273 of 395
31st 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
21st percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Falls City's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$275,40039th percentilemore affordable than 39% 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
Falls City's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,438 of 15,516
More affordable than 13% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,072 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 5.4×, Falls City sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,438 of 15,516 and #10,072 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
$51,094Falls City, OR median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Falls City, 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 Falls City, OR.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)14.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)13.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)46.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,222
Median Income
$51,094
Median Home Value
$275,400
Median Age
36.0
Poverty Rate
13.0%
Labor force participation
46.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
14.7%
Climate
Avg Temperature
50.9°F
Annual Precipitation
81.2"
Annual Snowfall
9.6"
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Falls City's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,055 residents
2021
1,063 residents
2022
1,061 residents
2023
1,055 residents
2024
1,051 residents
2025
1,042 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
80.3%
Carpool
9.0%
Public Transit
0.2%
Walk
3.7%
Work from Home
6.7%
Based on 432 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 Falls City. 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 Falls City 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 Falls City sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Falls City 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, 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.