City profile · Virginia · Census ACS 2023

Dale, VA

Dale's Census ACS profile: residents, income, housing, and the joined public-record layers available for this place.

72,793
Residents
$113,245
Median income
$400,100
Median home
$1,369
Median rent (state)
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See how it ranks

State rank, size-class rank, and four peer cities for Dale.

Place dossier plate

Sheet VA-DALE-VA · Dale, VA 72,793 pop · income 85th pct · 93 tracts

POP-SMALL · INC-TOP · COL-PAR · SAFE-UNK · RANK-TOP · PHOTO-FINISH · HOME-HIGH · BOOK-WIDE

  • POP-SMALL 72,793
  • INC-TOP $113,245
  • COL-PAR 101.1
  • SAFE-UNK Safety pending
  • RANK-TOP 85th
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Irwindale
  • HOME-HIGH $400,100
  • BOOK-WIDE 93 tracts

Nearest income peer: Irwindale, CA (+ $5 income $)

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 Dale

Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Dale on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.

median HH income

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.

Source U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 5-Year Estimates As of 2026-08-08

Compare beyond this state

Nationwide peers by population, income

Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Dale 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: 72,793.

4 peers

Similar household income

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS median household income. This city: $113,245. Population peers are excluded.

4 peers

Dale - the verdict

Dale ranks in the 85th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.

85th
percentile, household income
77th
percentile, home value
62nd
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: Dale, VA

Census ACS 2023 estimates count 72,793 residents in Dale, a small city within Virginia. Median household income here is $113,245 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 5.0%. Typical homes in Dale are valued around $400,100, and the median resident age is 35.0 years. Educational attainment runs 33.0% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 68.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.

Virginia tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Virginia scores 101.1 (Near Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,369 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $235 across Virginia, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Workers in Dale report an average commute of 33.0 minutes, with 70.0% driving alone and 13.1% working from home. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 33.3 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Very Low).

A decision-led reading path

Useful questions to ask of Dale'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 within-city variation to comparison shortlist to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.

For Dale, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles. No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, local building permits, annual population history; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.

1. Work and mobility

What does the journey to work look like in Dale?

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 70.0%. The reported mean trip to work is 33.0 minutes.

Compare commute patterns →

2. Within-city variation

What can 93 Census tracts reveal inside Dale?

That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.

PlainCities matches 93 Census tracts to this city.

Explore Dale's tract profiles →

Question 3

Which cities make useful reference points for Dale?

Within Virginia, the closest population matches are Centreville (71,885 residents, $143,704 income); Lynchburg (79,255 residents, $59,808 income); Reston (63,542 residents, $139,515 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Glen Burnie, MD (72,772 residents); Caguas zona urbana, PR (72,862 residents); Redlands, CA (72,985 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.

Open a side-by-side comparison →

Question 4

How far does income reach against housing in Dale?

The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.0%, 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.

Compare the housing trade-off →

Population

72,793 residents

Mid-size city (50k–199k)

Median Household Income

$113,245 /yr

High income · poverty 5.0% (Below-median poverty)

Cost of Living Index (state)

101.1 (US=100)

Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Virginia average

City profile score · Dale, VA

63/100

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 A-
$113,245

Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.

Poverty rate B-
5.0%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.

Bachelor's+ share C+
33.0%

Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.

Cost of living F
101.1 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).

Dale profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions) 4-axis radar comparing 1 series across Household income, Poverty rate, Bachelor's+ share, Cost of living. Household incomePoverty rateBachelor's+ shareCost of living 63 C+
Dale profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)
Read the chart values
  • Household income: 83/100 (A-) · $113,245
  • Poverty rate: 65/100 (B-) · 5.0%
  • Bachelor's+ share: 63/100 (C+) · 33.0%
  • Cost of living: 35/100 (F) · 101.1 index

How does Dale compare to other US cities?

Here's how Dale stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.

Household income 85% higher than other cities
Home value 77% pricier than other cities
Median rent 62% 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 Dale against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Virginia only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.

Virginia-relative analysis

Median Gross Rent places Dale near the bottom of Virginia's cities

Among the 619 Virginia cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Dale ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Dale only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.

Median Household Income
#138 of 558
75th percentile in Virginia
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 619
0th percentile in Virginia
Median Home Value
#160 of 567
72nd percentile in Virginia
Poverty Rate
#317 of 616
48th percentile in Virginia
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#243 of 618
61st percentile in Virginia
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 Virginia only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.

85thIncome percentile
Gauge source note

85th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.

How Dale's home value compares nationally

Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)

$400,100 23rd percentile more affordable than 23% of 15,600 US cities

Show national distribution $0–$25,000: 5 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $25,000–$50,000: 54 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $50,000–$75,000: 352 US cities (2%). Below this entry. $75,000–$100,000: 1,086 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $100,000–$125,000: 1,516 US cities (10%). Below this entry. $125,000–$150,000: 1,170 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $150,000–$175,000: 1,278 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $175,000–$200,000: 1,229 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $200,000–$225,000: 1,035 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $225,000–$250,000: 976 US cities (6%). Below this entry. $250,000–$275,000: 754 US cities (5%). Below this entry. $275,000–$300,000: 712 US cities (5%). Below this entry. $300,000–$325,000: 521 US cities (3%). Below this entry. $325,000–$350,000: 526 US cities (3%). Below this entry. $350,000–$375,000: 465 US cities (3%). Below this entry. $375,000–$400,000: 393 US cities (3%). Below this entry. $400,000–$425,000: 317 US cities (2%). This entry sits in this band. $425,000–$450,000: 300 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $450,000–$475,000: 307 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $475,000–$500,000: 250 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $500,000–$525,000: 160 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $525,000–$550,000: 156 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $550,000–$575,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $575,000–$600,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $600,000–$625,000: 163 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $625,000–$650,000: 167 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $650,000–$675,000: 135 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $675,000–$700,000: 101 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $700,000–$725,000: 95 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $725,000–$750,000: 71 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $750,000–$775,000: 65 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $775,000–$800,000: 70 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $800,000–$825,000: 57 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $825,000–$850,000: 67 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $850,000–$875,000: 60 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $875,000–$900,000: 58 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $900,000–$925,000: 47 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $925,000–$950,000: 37 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $950,000–$975,000: 31 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $975,000–$1,000,000: 470 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $1,000,000–$1,025,000: 0 US cities (0%). Above this entry. Dale $0 $1,025,000 every US city, bucketed by value

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

Dale's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.5×

ACS median home value divided by median household income.

Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,108 of 15,516
More affordable than 41% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#218 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)

At 3.5×, Dale sits in the moderate band: national rank #9,108 of 15,516 and #218 of 750mid-size cities (50,000–199,999). 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

$113,245 Dale, VA median household income (Census ACS)

Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Household income distribution - Dale, VA Dale, VA's median household income ($113,245) against the U.S. national quintile-share pattern. The Lorenz curve and quintile bars are national context, not Dale, VA-specific shares. $ Household Income Distribution Dale, VA median $113,245/yr, vs. U.S. national quintile pattern QUINTILE SHARE OF AGGREGATE INCOME Lowest 20% 3.4% Second 20% 9.2% Middle 20% 15.1% Fourth 20% 23.2% Top 20% 49.1% LORENZ CURVE cumulative income vs. population 100% 0% 100% pop. 0%
Dale, VA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Dale, VA.

Key socioeconomic indicators

Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+) 33.0%

Census ACS S1501, educational attainment

Poverty rate (households below FPL) 5.0%

Census ACS S1701, poverty status

Labor force participation (adults 16+) 68.8%

Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force

Population
72,793
Median Income
$113,245
Median Home Value
$400,100
Median Age
35.0
Poverty Rate
5.0%
Labor force participation
68.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
33.0%

Commute Patterns

Commute source

How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023

Average Commute Time
33.0 minutes
Drive Alone
70.0%
Carpool
11.7%
Public Transit
2.4%
Walk
0.6%
Work from Home
13.1%
Other
2.2%

Based on 37,877 workers 16 and over.

Monthly Utility Costs

Virginia statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $235

EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Virginia at $235 (electricity about $115 , water and sewer about $50 ).

These are Virginia statewide averages, not a meter reading for Dale. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.

Living Costs & Risk

Virginia's BEA cost-of-living index is 101.1 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Dale is $1,369/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Virginia statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 33.3 / 100 (Very Low).

Cost/risk geography note

Cost of living is a Virginia statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Dale sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.

How Dale compares to similar-size Virginia 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.

City Population Median Household Income
Dale (this city) 72,793 $113,245
Centreville 71,885 $143,704
Lynchburg 79,255 $59,808
Reston 63,542 $139,515
Primary sources on this page

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.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Citation & verification links Data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCities

Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES. Joins use OMB Bulletin 23-01 / FIPS keys.

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Estimate caveats

ACS and UCR figures are citywide estimates with vintage lags; they do not replace a local visit, school visit, or insurance quote.

Editorial standards, provenance, and how to cite this page

Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

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