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Place dossier plate
SheetPA-ELLWOOD-CITY-PA · Ellwood City, PA 7,575 pop · income 39th 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 Ellwood City
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Ellwood City on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Arcadia · lowest
38,388
Arcadia · lowest
38,388 median HH income
34.1% of the leader · rank #1
Payson · near
62,262
Payson · near
62,262 median HH income
55.3% of the leader · rank #2
Ellwood City · this city
62,266
Ellwood City · this city
62,266 median HH income
55.3% of the leader · rank #3
Belmont · near
62,266
Belmont · near
62,266 median HH income
55.3% of the leader · rank #4
Breckinridge… · near
62,269
Breckinridge… · near
62,269 median HH income
55.3% of the leader · rank #5
Algoma · near
62,269
Algoma · near
62,269 median HH income
55.3% of the leader · rank #6
Baywood · highest
112,546
Baywood · highest
112,546 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 Ellwood 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: 7,575.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Ellwood City - the verdict
Ellwood City ranks in the 39th percentile for household income and the 68th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
39th
percentile, household income
18th
percentile, home value
54th
percentile, median rent
68th
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: Ellwood City, PA
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 7,575 residents in Ellwood City, a small town within Pennsylvania. Median household income here is $62,266 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 6.9%. Ellwood City's housing stock carries a median value of $120,400, and the median resident age is 45.9 years. 23.5% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 66.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 0 residential building permits were authorized in Ellwood City (No Permits), per Census BPS data. Ellwood City reports a comparatively low crime rate: per-100,000 total crime stands at 905.7 in FBI UCR data, below the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Pennsylvania tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: the state registers 97.6 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Near Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,225 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $260 across Pennsylvania, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Natural-hazard exposure scores 67.4 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Ellwood 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 comparison shortlist to population change to housing and income to work and mobility to reported crime to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Ellwood City, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, annual population history, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for 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 Ellwood City?
Within Pennsylvania, the closest population matches are Lower Allen (7,582 residents, $85,537 income); Blandon (7,546 residents, $109,775 income); Pittston (7,618 residents, $47,525 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Ojai, CA (7,576 residents); London, KY (7,576 residents); Brighton, MI (7,576 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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Is Ellwood 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 -249 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -3.3% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
How far does income reach against housing in Ellwood City?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 6.9%, 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Ellwood 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 72.4%. 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.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Ellwood City?
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.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 905.7 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 60% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
811.0
Violent rate
94.6
Total reported rate
905.7
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
What does the education layer cover for Ellwood City?
The NCES join finds 7 public schools within the city match. 23.5% 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 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.
Matched public schools
7
Bachelor's degree+
23.5%
Poverty estimate
6.9%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Below median income · poverty 6.9% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.6 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Pennsylvania average
C-
City profile score · Ellwood City, PA
51/100
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.
Violent crime B
95 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate C-
6.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
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
23.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$62,266
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Ellwood City profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 72/100 (B) · 95 /100k
Poverty rate: 53/100 (C-) · 6.9%
Cost of living: 50/100 (C-) · 97.6 index
Bachelor's+ share: 44/100 (D) · 23.5%
Household income: 38/100 (F) · $62,266
Where Ellwood City sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Ellwood 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 - Ellwood City highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
Ellwood City, PA (this city): home $120,400, crime 906/100k
Ojai, CA : home $947,000, crime 1,039/100k
London, KY : home $155,500, crime 2,749/100k
Brighton, MI : home $302,800, crime 1,339/100k
Arcadia, FL : home $158,900, crime 1,878/100k
Uniontown, OH : home $241,900, crime 1,525/100k
Pittston, PA : home $114,900, crime 562/100k
New Cumberland, PA : home $232,800, crime 489/100k
DuBois, PA : home $114,900, crime 1,611/100k
How does Ellwood City compare to other US cities?
Here's how Ellwood City stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income39% higher than other cities
Home value18% pricier than other cities
Median rent54% pricier than other cities
Safety68% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Pennsylvania and the picture shifts: Ellwood City ranks #209 of 402 Pennsylvania cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Ellwood 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 Ellwood City near the bottom of Pennsylvania's cities
Among the 1,865 Pennsylvania cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Ellwood City ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Ellwood City only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,043 of 1,765
41st percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,865
0th percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Home Value
#1,293 of 1,790
28th percentile in Pennsylvania
Poverty Rate
#796 of 1,856
57th percentile in Pennsylvania
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#819 of 1,861
56th 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
39th percentile nationally for median household income · 68th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Ellwood City's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Ellwood 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 Ellwood City's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$120,400Among the most affordablemore affordable than 82% 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
Ellwood City's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#1,417 of 15,516
More affordable than 91% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,365 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.9×, Ellwood City sits in the affordable band:
national rank #1,417 of 15,516 and #1,365 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
$62,266Ellwood City, PA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Ellwood 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 Ellwood City, PA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)23.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)6.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)66.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
7,575
Median Income
$62,266
Median Home Value
$120,400
Median Age
45.9
Poverty Rate
6.9%
Labor force participation
66.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
23.5%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
905.7
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
94.6
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
811.0
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.
Schools
Total Schools
7
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Ellwood City's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
7,611 residents
2021
7,559 residents
2022
7,475 residents
2023
7,438 residents
2024
7,392 residents
2025
7,362 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
2
2
0
$0.6M
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
72.4%
Carpool
14.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.7%
Work from Home
9.0%
Other
0.8%
Based on 4,184 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 Ellwood 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 Ellwood 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 Ellwood City sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Ellwood 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, 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.