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
SheetWA-COLFAX-WA · Colfax, WA 2,785 pop · income 30th 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 Colfax
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Colfax on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Postville · lowest
47,281
Postville · lowest
47,281 median HH income
18.9% of the leader · rank #1
Colfax · this city
56,929
Colfax · this city
56,929 median HH income
22.8% of the leader · rank #2
Highland Spri… · near
56,931
Highland Spri… · near
56,931 median HH income
22.8% of the leader · rank #3
Jeffersonville · near
56,932
Jeffersonville · near
56,932 median HH income
22.8% of the leader · rank #4
Madison · near
56,932
Madison · near
56,932 median HH income
22.8% of the leader · rank #5
Farwell · near
56,932
Farwell · near
56,932 median HH income
22.8% of the leader · rank #6
Medina · highest
249,688
Medina · highest
249,688 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 Colfax 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: 2,785.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Colfax places in the 30th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
30th
percentile, household income
55th
percentile, home value
70th
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: Colfax, WA
Washington's Colfax is a small town, with 2,785 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Colfax households earn a median of $56,929 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 9.0%. Colfax's housing stock carries a median value of $246,300, and the median resident age is 39.7 years. 31.7% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 50.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 2 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Stable), up 0% from five years earlier.
Washington carries a cost-of-living premium: the state registers 107.0 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Above Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,472 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Washington run around $188, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Natural-hazard exposure scores 70.0 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Colfax'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 housing and income to schools and households to work and mobility to population change to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Colfax, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, local building permits, annual population history, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
How far does income reach against housing in Colfax?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 9.0%, 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. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 31.7% 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Colfax?
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 83.7%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Which cities make useful reference points for Colfax?
Within Washington, the closest population matches are Eatonville (2,843 residents, $93,603 income); Alderton (2,857 residents, $95,802 income); Dayton (2,695 residents, $71,687 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Inverness Highlands North, FL (2,785 residents); Ester, AK (2,784 residents); De Leon Springs, FL (2,784 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.
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.
Population change
Is Colfax 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 -102 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -3.7% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 2 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
-3.7%
2025 estimate
2,667
2020 estimate
2,769
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Below median income · poverty 9.0% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
107.0 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, Washington average
F
City profile score · Colfax, WA
36/100
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.
Bachelor's+ share C+
31.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate D
9.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$56,929
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Cost of living F
107.0 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Colfax profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 61/100 (C+) · 31.7%
Poverty rate: 44/100 (D) · 9.0%
Household income: 30/100 (F) · $56,929
Cost of living: 15/100 (F) · 107.0 index
How does Colfax compare to other US cities?
Here's how Colfax stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income30% higher than other cities
Home value55% pricier than other cities
Median rent70% 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 Colfax against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Washington only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Washington-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Colfax near the bottom of Washington's cities
Among the 599 Washington cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Colfax ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Colfax only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#464 of 565
18th percentile in Washington
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 599
0th percentile in Washington
Median Home Value
#454 of 565
20th percentile in Washington
Poverty Rate
#185 of 598
69th percentile in Washington
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#214 of 599
64th percentile in Washington
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 Washington only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
30th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Colfax's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$246,30045th percentilemore affordable than 45% 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
Colfax's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#11,589 of 15,516
More affordable than 25% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#8,926 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.3×, Colfax sits in the moderate band:
national rank #11,589 of 15,516 and #8,926 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
$56,929Colfax, WA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Colfax, WA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Colfax, WA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)31.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)9.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)50.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,785
Median Income
$56,929
Median Home Value
$246,300
Median Age
39.7
Poverty Rate
9.0%
Labor force participation
50.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
31.7%
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Colfax's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,769 residents
2021
2,694 residents
2022
2,670 residents
2023
2,661 residents
2024
2,657 residents
2025
2,667 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Stable
Total Permits (2024)
2
housing units authorized
Single-Family
2
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
2
2
0
$0.4M
2020
8
8
0
$1.1M
2021
4
4
0
$1.2M
2022
3
3
0
$1.0M
2023
6
6
0
$3.5M
2024
2
2
0
$0.4M
Permit volume increased 0% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
83.7%
Carpool
7.6%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
2.3%
Work from Home
2.9%
Other
3.5%
Based on 1,134 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Washington statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $188
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Washington at $188 (electricity about $85 , water and sewer about $55 ).
These are Washington statewide averages, not a meter reading for Colfax. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Washington's BEA cost-of-living index is 107.0 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Colfax is $1,472/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Washington statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 70.0 / 100 (High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Washington statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Colfax sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Colfax compares to similar-size Washington 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, 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.