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Place dossier plate
SheetWA-INDIANOLA-WA · Indianola, WA 3,517 pop · income 75th 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 Indianola
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Indianola on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Westway · lowest
34,115
Westway · lowest
34,115 median HH income
18.9% of the leader · rank #1
Hepzibah · near
95,457
Hepzibah · near
95,457 median HH income
53.0% of the leader · rank #2
Indianola · this city
95,469
Indianola · this city
95,469 median HH income
53.0% of the leader · rank #3
Stiles · near
95,472
Stiles · near
95,472 median HH income
53.0% of the leader · rank #4
Lakeside · near
95,481
Lakeside · near
95,481 median HH income
53.0% of the leader · rank #5
Port Ewen · near
95,481
Port Ewen · near
95,481 median HH income
53.0% of the leader · rank #6
Clearview · highest
180,208
Clearview · highest
180,208 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 Indianola 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: 3,517.
Nationally, Indianola sits in the 75th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
75th
percentile, household income
83rd
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: Indianola, WA
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 3,517 residents in Indianola, a small town within Washington. The typical household in Indianola brings in $95,469 a year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 4.4%. Indianola's housing stock carries a median value of $478,100, and the median resident age is 45.7 years. Educational attainment runs 40.3% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 57.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Washington carries a cost-of-living premium: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Washington scores 107.0 (Above Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,472 per month. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Washington's average monthly utility costs around $188 (state average). Commute times here average 30.4 minutes, with 65.5% driving alone and 19.5% working from home, per Census ACS commuting 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 Indianola'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 Indianola, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Indianola?
Within Washington, the closest population matches are Clearview (3,508 residents, $180,208 income); Hansville (3,533 residents, $85,800 income); Mattawa (3,553 residents, $41,250 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Village Green, NY (3,518 residents); Mountain Home, NC (3,518 residents); River Road, NC (3,518 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 Indianola?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.4%, 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Indianola?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 65.5%. The reported mean trip to work is 30.4 minutes.
Above median income · poverty 4.4% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
107.0 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, Washington average
C
City profile score · Indianola, WA
58/100
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 B+
$95,469
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share B+
40.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate B-
4.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
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).
Indianola profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 75/100 (B+) · $95,469
Bachelor's+ share: 75/100 (B+) · 40.3%
Poverty rate: 69/100 (B-) · 4.4%
Cost of living: 15/100 (F) · 107.0 index
How does Indianola compare to other US cities?
Indianola measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income75% higher than other cities
Home value83% 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 Indianola 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 Indianola near the bottom of Washington's cities
Among the 599 Washington cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Indianola ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Indianola only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#216 of 565
62nd percentile in Washington
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 599
0th percentile in Washington
Median Home Value
#219 of 565
61st percentile in Washington
Poverty Rate
#346 of 598
41st percentile in Washington
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#136 of 599
77th 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
75th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Indianola's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$478,10017th percentilemore affordable than 17% 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
Indianola's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#12,896 of 15,516
More affordable than 17% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#9,763 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 5.0×, Indianola sits in the pressured band:
national rank #12,896 of 15,516 and #9,763 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
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
$95,469Indianola, WA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Indianola, 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 Indianola, WA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)40.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)57.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
3,517
Median Income
$95,469
Median Home Value
$478,100
Median Age
45.7
Poverty Rate
4.4%
Labor force participation
57.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
40.3%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
30.4 minutes
Drive Alone
65.5%
Carpool
6.3%
Public Transit
6.0%
Walk
0.9%
Work from Home
19.5%
Other
1.8%
Based on 1,695 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 Indianola. 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 Indianola 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 Indianola sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Indianola 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, 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.