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Place dossier plate
SheetOR-LOWELL-OR · Lowell, OR 1,221 pop · income 71st 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 Lowell
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Lowell on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Falls City · lowest
51,094
Falls City · lowest
51,094 median HH income
49.7% of the leader · rank #1
Lake Wazeecha · near
90,074
Lake Wazeecha · near
90,074 median HH income
87.7% of the leader · rank #2
Lowell · this city
90,078
Lowell · this city
90,078 median HH income
87.7% of the leader · rank #3
Dixonville · near
90,081
Dixonville · near
90,081 median HH income
87.7% of the leader · rank #4
Highlands · near
90,082
Highlands · near
90,082 median HH income
87.7% of the leader · rank #5
Suffolk · near
90,089
Suffolk · near
90,089 median HH income
87.7% of the leader · rank #6
Summer Set · highest
102,760
Summer Set · highest
102,760 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 Lowell 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: 1,221.
Nationally, Lowell sits in the 71st percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
71st
percentile, household income
70th
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: Lowell, OR
Oregon's Lowell is a small town, with 1,221 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $90,078 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 10.4%. Lowell's housing stock carries a median value of $339,800, and the median resident age is 51.2 years. 23.0% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 55.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 4 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 71% from five years earlier.
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. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,425 per month. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Oregon's average monthly utility costs around $185 (state average). Natural-hazard exposure scores 63.4 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Lowell'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 work and mobility to housing and income to comparison shortlist 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 Lowell, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, local building permits.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in Lowell?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 76.3%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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.
How far does income reach against housing in Lowell?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 10.4%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Lowell?
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 Oregon, the closest population matches are Falls City (1,222 residents, $51,094 income); Pilot Rock (1,220 residents, $85,795 income); Athena (1,206 residents, $70,729 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Hawesville, KY (1,221 residents); West Fairview, PA (1,221 residents); Newark, TX (1,221 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.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +78 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +6.5% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 4 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
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 Lowell?
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.
The NCES join finds 4 public schools within the city match. 23.0% 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.
Poverty estimate
10.4%
Bachelor's degree+
23.0%
Matched public schools
4
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Above median income · poverty 10.4% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
103.4 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Oregon average
D
City profile score · Lowell, OR
45/100
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 B-
$90,078
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share D
23.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
10.4%
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.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Lowell profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 69/100 (B-) · $90,078
Bachelor's+ share: 43/100 (D) · 23.0%
Poverty rate: 38/100 (F) · 10.4%
Cost of living: 25/100 (F) · 103.4 index
How does Lowell compare to other US cities?
Where Lowell sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income71% higher than other cities
Home value70% 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 Lowell 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 Lowell near the bottom of Oregon's cities
Among the 395 Oregon cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Lowell ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Lowell only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#87 of 364
76th percentile in Oregon
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 395
0th percentile in Oregon
Median Home Value
#190 of 366
48th percentile in Oregon
Poverty Rate
#112 of 395
71st percentile in Oregon
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#190 of 395
51st 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
71st percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Lowell's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$339,80030th percentilemore affordable than 30% 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
Lowell's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,962 of 15,516
More affordable than 36% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,888 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.8×, Lowell sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,962 of 15,516 and #7,888 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
$90,078Lowell, OR median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Lowell, 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 Lowell, OR.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)23.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)10.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)55.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,221
Median Income
$90,078
Median Home Value
$339,800
Median Age
51.2
Poverty Rate
10.4%
Labor force participation
55.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
23.0%
Schools
Total Schools
4
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Lowell's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,205 residents
2021
1,212 residents
2022
1,228 residents
2023
1,260 residents
2024
1,285 residents
2025
1,283 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
4
housing units authorized
Single-Family
4
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
3.3
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
14
14
0
$1.9M
2020
4
4
0
$1.1M
2021
15
15
0
$4.0M
2022
18
18
0
$4.8M
2023
13
13
0
$3.6M
2024
4
4
0
$1.8M
Permit volume decreased 71% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
76.3%
Carpool
10.1%
Public Transit
1.3%
Walk
2.8%
Work from Home
9.5%
Based on 527 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 Lowell. 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 Lowell 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 Lowell sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Lowell 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 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.