Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetSD-ASHLAND-HEIGHTS-SD · Ashland Heights, SD 1,142 pop · income 38th 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 Ashland Heights
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Ashland Heights on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Metcalfe · lowest
33,194
Metcalfe · lowest
33,194 median HH income
36.4% of the leader · rank #1
Laurel Hill · near
61,534
Laurel Hill · near
61,534 median HH income
67.4% of the leader · rank #2
Ashland Heigh… · this city
61,538
Ashland Heigh… · this city
61,538 median HH income
67.4% of the leader · rank #3
Campo · near
61,538
Campo · near
61,538 median HH income
67.4% of the leader · rank #4
Palmetto · near
61,538
Palmetto · near
61,538 median HH income
67.4% of the leader · rank #5
Mount Penn · near
61,544
Mount Penn · near
61,544 median HH income
67.4% of the leader · rank #6
Worthing · highest
91,250
Worthing · highest
91,250 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 Ashland Heights 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: 1,142.
Ashland Heights ranks in the 38th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
38th
percentile, household income
44th
percentile, home value
13th
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: Ashland Heights, SD
1,142 people live in Ashland Heights, South Dakota - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Ashland Heights brings in $61,538 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 15.8%. Ashland Heights's housing stock carries a median value of $202,700, and the median resident age is 54.6 years. 12.8% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 38.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Living costs in South Dakota run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts South Dakota at 88.6 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $990 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts South Dakota's average monthly utility costs around $200 (state average). Natural-hazard exposure scores 26.8 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Ashland Heights'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; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Ashland Heights, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, local building permits, annual population history; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Ashland Heights?
Within South Dakota, the closest population matches are Fort Thompson (1,134 residents, $45,313 income); Ipswich (1,126 residents, $79,135 income); Garretson (1,166 residents, $66,375 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Morton, WA (1,142 residents); Rock Island, WA (1,142 residents); Peridot, AZ (1,141 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 Ashland Heights?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 15.8%, 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. 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Ashland Heights?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 93.1%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Below median income · poverty 15.8% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
88.6 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, South Dakota average
D
City profile score · Ashland Heights, SD
42/100
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.
Cost of living A+
88.6 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 F
$61,538
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
15.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
12.8%
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).
Ashland Heights profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 91/100 (A+) · 88.6 index
Household income: 37/100 (F) · $61,538
Poverty rate: 21/100 (F) · 15.8%
Bachelor's+ share: 14/100 (F) · 12.8%
How does Ashland Heights compare to other US cities?
Ashland Heights measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income38% higher than other cities
Home value44% pricier than other cities
Median rent13% 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 Ashland Heights against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to South Dakota only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
South Dakota-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Ashland Heights near the bottom of South Dakota's cities
Among the 303 South Dakota cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Ashland Heights ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Ashland Heights only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#146 of 285
49th percentile in South Dakota
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 303
0th percentile in South Dakota
Median Home Value
#63 of 263
76th percentile in South Dakota
Poverty Rate
#70 of 302
76th percentile in South Dakota
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#228 of 303
25th percentile in South Dakota
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 South Dakota only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
38th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Ashland Heights's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$202,700Among the most affordablemore affordable than 56% 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
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#8,098 of 15,516
More affordable than 48% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#6,633 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.3×, Ashland Heights sits in the moderate band:
national rank #8,098 of 15,516 and #6,633 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
$61,538Ashland Heights, SD median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Ashland Heights, SD median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Ashland Heights, SD.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)12.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)15.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)38.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,142
Median Income
$61,538
Median Home Value
$202,700
Median Age
54.6
Poverty Rate
15.8%
Labor force participation
38.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
12.8%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
93.1%
Carpool
6.9%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
0.0%
Based on 422 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
South Dakota statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $200
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across South Dakota at $200 (electricity about $95 , water and sewer about $40 ).
These are South Dakota statewide averages, not a meter reading for Ashland Heights. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
South Dakota's BEA cost-of-living index is 88.6 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Ashland Heights is $990/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to South Dakota statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 26.8 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a South Dakota statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Ashland Heights sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Ashland Heights compares to similar-size South Dakota 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.