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Place dossier plate
SheetPA-DICKSON-CITY-PA · Dickson City, PA 6,022 pop · income 33rd 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 Dickson City
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Dickson City on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Truth or Cons… · lowest
29,142
Truth or Cons… · lowest
29,142 median HH income
15.9% of the leader · rank #1
Dover · near
58,336
Dover · near
58,336 median HH income
31.8% of the leader · rank #2
Killeen · near
58,339
Killeen · near
58,339 median HH income
31.8% of the leader · rank #3
Storm Lake · near
58,341
Storm Lake · near
58,341 median HH income
31.8% of the leader · rank #4
Dickson City · this city
58,343
Dickson City · this city
58,343 median HH income
31.8% of the leader · rank #5
Strawberry Po… · near
58,352
Strawberry Po… · near
58,352 median HH income
31.8% of the leader · rank #6
Sharon · highest
183,239
Sharon · highest
183,239 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, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Dickson City on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. 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: 6,022.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Dickson City - the verdict
Nationally, Dickson City sits in the 33rd percentile for household income and the 17th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
33rd
percentile, household income
38th
percentile, home value
54th
percentile, median rent
17th
percentile, safety
📝 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: Dickson City, PA
Pennsylvania's Dickson City is a small town, with 6,022 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Households in Dickson City report a median income of $58,343 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 9.6%. Typical homes in Dickson City are valued around $184,700, and the median resident age is 45.8 years. Educational attainment runs 25.1% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 55.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 4 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Rapid Growth), up 33% from five years earlier. Dickson City's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 2919.1 crimes per 100,000 residents, above the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score).
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. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,225 monthly. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Pennsylvania's average monthly utility costs around $260 (state average). On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 67.4 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Dickson 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 population change to comparison shortlist to reported crime to housing and income to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Dickson City, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, annual population history, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Is Dickson City growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -37 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -0.6% 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.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Dickson City?
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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within Pennsylvania, the closest population matches are Bellefonte (6,022 residents, $57,157 income); Nazareth (6,032 residents, $57,551 income); Oreland (6,036 residents, $110,100 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Elmwood, LA (6,022 residents); Sharon, MA (6,022 residents); Harriman, TN (6,021 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.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Dickson City?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2919.1 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 28% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
How far does income reach against housing in Dickson City?
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 3.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 9.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Dickson City?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 78.6%. 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.
Drive alone
78.6%
Work from home
7.0%
Public transit
0.3%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 2,633 workers age 16+.
Below median income · poverty 9.6% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.6 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Pennsylvania average
D
City profile score · Dickson City, PA
41/100
5 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.
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.
Bachelor's+ share D
25.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate D
9.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
267 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income F
$58,343
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Dickson City profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 50/100 (C-) · 97.6 index
Bachelor's+ share: 49/100 (D) · 25.1%
Poverty rate: 41/100 (D) · 9.6%
Violent crime: 38/100 (F) · 267 /100k
Household income: 32/100 (F) · $58,343
Where Dickson City sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Dickson City's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Dickson City highlighted among 27 peers.Read the chart values
Dickson City, PA (this city): home $184,700, crime 2,919/100k
Sharon, MA : home $614,300, crime 277/100k
Harriman, TN : home $162,500, crime 4,067/100k
Truth or Consequences, NM : home $107,500, crime 3,292/100k
Nazareth, PA : home $236,900, crime 758/100k
Crafton, PA : home $193,600, crime 2,307/100k
Somerset, PA : home $144,400, crime 803/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Dickson City compare to other US cities?
Dickson City measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income33% higher than other cities
Home value38% pricier than other cities
Median rent54% pricier than other cities
Safety17% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at Pennsylvania, Dickson City ranks #379 of 402 Pennsylvania cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Dickson City 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 Dickson City near the bottom of Pennsylvania's cities
Among the 1,865 Pennsylvania cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Dickson City ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Dickson City only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,172 of 1,765
34th percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,865
0th percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Home Value
#766 of 1,790
57th percentile in Pennsylvania
Poverty Rate
#574 of 1,856
69th percentile in Pennsylvania
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#755 of 1,861
59th 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.
Gauge source note
33rd percentile nationally for median household income · 17th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Dickson City's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Dickson City's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Dickson City's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$184,700Among the most affordablemore affordable than 62% 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
Dickson City's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#7,521 of 15,516
More affordable than 52% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#6,226 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.2×, Dickson City sits in the moderate band:
national rank #7,521 of 15,516 and #6,226 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
$58,343Dickson City, PA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Dickson City, PA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Dickson City, PA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)25.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)9.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)55.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
6,022
Median Income
$58,343
Median Home Value
$184,700
Median Age
45.8
Poverty Rate
9.6%
Labor force participation
55.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
25.1%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2919.1
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
266.9
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2652.2
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Dickson City's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
6,013 residents
2021
6,015 residents
2022
5,986 residents
2023
5,992 residents
2024
5,984 residents
2025
5,976 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Rapid Growth
Total Permits (2024)
4
housing units authorized
Single-Family
4
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.7
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
3
3
0
$0.8M
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
5
1
4
$0.6M
2023
1
1
0
$0.3M
2024
4
4
0
$0.5M
Permit volume increased 33% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
78.6%
Carpool
11.4%
Public Transit
0.3%
Walk
2.8%
Work from Home
7.0%
Based on 2,633 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 Dickson City. 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 Dickson City 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 Dickson City sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Dickson City 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, FBI UCR, 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.