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Place dossier plate
SheetPA-DESALES-UNIVERSITY-PA · DeSales University, PA 994 pop
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.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for DeSales University 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: 994.
Pennsylvania's DeSales University counts 994 residents. Source: Census ACS.
54th
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: DeSales University, PA
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 994 residents in DeSales University, a small town within Pennsylvania. The median resident age is 20.1 years. Educational attainment runs 100.0% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 39.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Pennsylvania tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Pennsylvania scores 97.6 (Near Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,225 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Pennsylvania's average monthly utility costs around $260 (state average). FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 67.4 out of 100 (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of DeSales University'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; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For DeSales University, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, annual population history, matched public-school count, 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
Which cities make useful reference points for DeSales University?
Within Pennsylvania, the closest population matches are Bowmanstown (994 residents, $67,125 income); Laboratory (993 residents, $94,145 income); Penryn (995 residents, $64,271 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Womens Bay, AK (994 residents); Kirklin, IN (994 residents); Lynn, IN (994 residents). 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 DeSales University?
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.
Working from home is the largest reported mode at 52.6%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Pennsylvania average
B
City profile score · DeSales University, PA
71/100
2 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.
Bachelor's+ share A+
100.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living C-
97.6 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 N/A
N/A
No ACS median household income on file for this place.
Poverty rate N/A
N/A
No ACS poverty rate on file for this place.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
How does DeSales University compare to other US cities?
Where DeSales University sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Median rent54% 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 DeSales University against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Pennsylvania only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Pennsylvania-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places DeSales University near the bottom of Pennsylvania's cities
Among the 1,865 Pennsylvania cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, DeSales University ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares DeSales University only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,865
0th percentile in Pennsylvania
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1 of 1,861
100th percentile in Pennsylvania
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 Pennsylvania only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Income distribution context
Median household income is not available for DeSales University in the current Census ACS release (common for very small places).
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)100.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Labor force participation (adults 16+)39.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
994
Median Income
N/A
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
20.1
Poverty Rate
N/A
Labor force participation
39.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
100.0%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
31.4%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
1.3%
Walk
14.7%
Work from Home
52.6%
Based on 388 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Pennsylvania statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $260
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Pennsylvania at $260 (electricity about $120 , water and sewer about $52 ).
These are Pennsylvania statewide averages, not a meter reading for DeSales University. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Pennsylvania's BEA cost-of-living index is 97.6 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around DeSales University is $1,225/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Pennsylvania statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 67.4 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Pennsylvania statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county DeSales University sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How DeSales University compares to similar-size Pennsylvania 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, 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.