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Place dossier plate
SheetVT-ISLAND-POND-VT · Island Pond, VT 698 pop · income 16th pct · 3 tracts
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 Island Pond
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Island Pond on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Florien · lowest
33,125
Florien · lowest
33,125 median HH income
33.4% of the leader · rank #1
Island Pond · this city
47,500
Island Pond · this city
47,500 median HH income
47.9% of the leader · rank #2
Andalusia · near
47,500
Andalusia · near
47,500 median HH income
47.9% of the leader · rank #3
Elkmont · near
47,500
Elkmont · near
47,500 median HH income
47.9% of the leader · rank #4
Alpena · near
47,500
Alpena · near
47,500 median HH income
47.9% of the leader · rank #5
Portland · near
47,500
Portland · near
47,500 median HH income
47.9% of the leader · rank #6
Hartland · highest
99,232
Hartland · highest
99,232 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 Island Pond 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: 698.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Island Pond lands in the 16th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
16th
percentile, household income
17th
percentile, home value
73rd
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: Island Pond, VT
Vermont's Island Pond is a small town, with 698 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Households in Island Pond report a median income of $47,500 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 3.0%. Island Pond's housing stock carries a median value of $118,900, and the median resident age is 50.6 years. About 36.2% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 44.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
NOAA puts Island Pond's yearly average temperature at 41.1°F with 44.9 inches of precipitation per year and 114.9 inches of snowfall.
Vermont tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: the state registers 98.0 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Near Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,487 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Vermont run around $251, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 36.4 out of 100 (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Island Pond'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 within-city variation to schools and households to climate and hazard context to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Island Pond, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for annual population history, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Island Pond?
Within Vermont, the closest population matches are Barton (697 residents, $35,341 income); Derby Center (684 residents, $55,625 income); Hartland (713 residents, $99,232 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Hazleton, IA (698 residents); Florien, LA (698 residents); Lake Benton, MN (698 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 Island Pond?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 3.0%, 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.
What can 3 Census tracts reveal inside Island Pond?
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.
What does the education layer cover for Island Pond?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 36.2% 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 matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
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.
Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Island Pond?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 41.1°F, with 44.9 inches of precipitation and 114.9 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Vermont is 36.4 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
Mean temperature
41.1°F
Annual precipitation
44.9 in
FEMA risk index (state avg)
36.4
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
What does the journey to work look like in Island Pond?
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 89.9%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.0%
Work from home
3.7%
Drive alone
89.9%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 268 workers age 16+.
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Vermont average
C-
City profile score · Island Pond, VT
50/100
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.
Poverty rate B+
3.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share B-
36.2%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living D
98.0 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
$47,500
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Island Pond profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 79/100 (B+) · 3.0%
Bachelor's+ share: 69/100 (B-) · 36.2%
Cost of living: 48/100 (D) · 98.0 index
Household income: 17/100 (F) · $47,500
How does Island Pond compare to other US cities?
Here's how Island Pond stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income16% higher than other cities
Home value17% pricier than other cities
Median rent73% 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 Island Pond against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Vermont only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Vermont-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Island Pond near the bottom of Vermont's cities
Among the 161 Vermont cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Island Pond ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Island Pond only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#127 of 149
15th percentile in Vermont
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 161
0th percentile in Vermont
Median Home Value
#148 of 152
3rd percentile in Vermont
Poverty Rate
#82 of 161
49th percentile in Vermont
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#76 of 161
53rd percentile in Vermont
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 Vermont only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
16th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Island Pond's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$118,900Among the most affordablemore affordable than 83% 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
Island Pond's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#4,006 of 15,516
More affordable than 74% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,608 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.5×, Island Pond sits in the affordable band:
national rank #4,006 of 15,516 and #3,608 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
$47,500Island Pond, VT median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Island Pond, VT median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Island Pond, VT.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)36.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)3.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)44.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
698
Median Income
$47,500
Median Home Value
$118,900
Median Age
50.6
Poverty Rate
3.0%
Labor force participation
44.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
36.2%
Climate
Avg Temperature
41.1°F
Annual Precipitation
44.9"
Annual Snowfall
114.9"
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
89.9%
Carpool
2.6%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.7%
Work from Home
3.7%
Based on 268 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Vermont statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $251
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Vermont at $251 (electricity about $105 , water and sewer about $48 ).
These are Vermont statewide averages, not a meter reading for Island Pond. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Vermont's BEA cost-of-living index is 98.0 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Island Pond is $1,487/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Vermont statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 36.4 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Vermont statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Island Pond sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Island Pond compares to similar-size Vermont 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, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, 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.