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Place dossier plate
SheetOR-HELIX-OR · Helix, OR 415 pop · income 97th 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 Helix
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Helix on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Massieville · lowest
39,519
Massieville · lowest
39,519 median HH income
21.3% of the leader · rank #1
Leawood · near
184,976
Leawood · near
184,976 median HH income
99.7% of the leader · rank #2
Newton · near
184,989
Newton · near
184,989 median HH income
99.7% of the leader · rank #3
Helix · this city
185,153
Helix · this city
185,153 median HH income
99.8% of the leader · rank #4
Avila Beach · near
185,363
Avila Beach · near
185,363 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #5
Todd Creek · near
185,417
Todd Creek · near
185,417 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #6
Plainview · highest
185,531
Plainview · highest
185,531 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 Helix 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: 415.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Helix lands in the 97th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
97th
percentile, household income
50th
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: Helix, OR
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 415 residents in Helix, a small town within Oregon. Median household income here is $185,153 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 4.6%. Typical homes in Helix are valued around $228,400, and the median resident age is 41.4 years. 10.8% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 69.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 1 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. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,425 monthly. 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 Helix'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 housing and income to work and mobility to population change to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Helix, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Helix?
Within Oregon, the closest population matches are Trent (413 residents); Moro (422 residents, $71,563 income); Maupin (423 residents, $54,792 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Morrison, CO (415 residents); Monroe Center, IL (415 residents); Coram, MT (415 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Helix?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.6%, 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.
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 45.9%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +1 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.5% 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.
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 Helix?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 10.8% 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
1
Bachelor's degree+
10.8%
Poverty estimate
4.6%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Top-decile income · poverty 4.6% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
103.4 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Oregon average
C
City profile score · Helix, OR
56/100
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 A+
$185,153
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate B-
4.6%
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
10.8%
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).
Helix profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 100/100 (A+) · $185,153
Poverty rate: 68/100 (B-) · 4.6%
Cost of living: 25/100 (F) · 103.4 index
Bachelor's+ share: 9/100 (F) · 10.8%
How does Helix compare to other US cities?
Helix measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income97% higher than other cities
Home value50% 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 Helix 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 Helix near the bottom of Oregon's cities
Among the 395 Oregon cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Helix ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Helix only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#6 of 364
98th percentile in Oregon
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 395
0th percentile in Oregon
Median Home Value
#297 of 366
19th percentile in Oregon
Poverty Rate
#244 of 395
38th percentile in Oregon
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#329 of 395
16th 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
97th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Helix's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$228,400Among the most affordablemore affordable than 50% 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
Helix's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#131 of 15,516
More affordable than 99% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#129 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.2×, Helix sits in the affordable band:
national rank #131 of 15,516 and #129 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
$185,153Helix, OR median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Helix, 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 Helix, OR.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)10.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)69.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
415
Median Income
$185,153
Median Home Value
$228,400
Median Age
41.4
Poverty Rate
4.6%
Labor force participation
69.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
10.8%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Helix's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
193 residents
2021
193 residents
2022
192 residents
2023
191 residents
2024
193 residents
2025
194 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
45.9%
Carpool
6.9%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
6.0%
Work from Home
41.3%
Based on 218 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 Helix. 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 Helix 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 Helix sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Helix 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.