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Place dossier plate
SheetWA-MILTON-WA · Milton, WA 8,747 pop · income 71st 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 Milton
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Milton on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Coffeyville · lowest
41,901
Coffeyville · lowest
41,901 median HH income
34.6% of the leader · rank #1
Oneida Castle · near
89,792
Oneida Castle · near
89,792 median HH income
74.2% of the leader · rank #2
Woodlawn Park · near
89,792
Woodlawn Park · near
89,792 median HH income
74.2% of the leader · rank #3
Turbotville · near
89,792
Turbotville · near
89,792 median HH income
74.2% of the leader · rank #4
Milton · this city
89,804
Milton · this city
89,804 median HH income
74.2% of the leader · rank #5
Duncan Falls · near
89,821
Duncan Falls · near
89,821 median HH income
74.2% of the leader · rank #6
Orting · highest
120,994
Orting · highest
120,994 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, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Milton on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. 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: 8,747.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Milton - the verdict
Milton ranks in the 71st percentile for household income and the 16th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
71st
percentile, household income
85th
percentile, home value
70th
percentile, median rent
16th
percentile, safety
📝 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: Milton, WA
Milton is a small town in Washington, home to 8,747 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Milton households earn a median of $89,804 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 8.6%. Typical homes in Milton are valued around $511,000, and the median resident age is 38.1 years. 22.8% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 65.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 9 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Slowing), down 25% from five years earlier. Milton's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 3015.0 incidents per 100,000 residents, above the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
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. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Washington run around $188, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 70.0 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Milton'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 population change to reported crime to work and mobility to comparison shortlist to housing and income to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Milton, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, local building permits.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Population change
Is Milton growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +125 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.4% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 9 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Milton?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 3015.0 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 32% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
What does the journey to work look like in Milton?
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 77.5%. 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 Milton?
Within Washington, the closest population matches are Toppenish (8,746 residents, $67,766 income); Hoquiam (8,792 residents, $51,754 income); Othello (8,699 residents, $65,757 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Altoona, WI (8,750 residents); Mascoutah, IL (8,743 residents); Coffeyville, KS (8,752 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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
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.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Milton?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 8.6%, 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.
Household income
$89,804
Home value
$511,000
Value / income
5.7×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 22.8% 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.
Matched public schools
2
Bachelor's degree+
22.8%
Poverty estimate
8.6%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Above median income · poverty 8.6% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
107.0 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, Washington average
D
City profile score · Milton, WA
40/100
5 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-
$89,804
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate D
8.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share D
22.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime F
391 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger 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.
Milton profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 69/100 (B-) · $89,804
Poverty rate: 45/100 (D) · 8.6%
Bachelor's+ share: 42/100 (D) · 22.8%
Violent crime: 23/100 (F) · 391 /100k
Cost of living: 15/100 (F) · 107.0 index
Where Milton sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Milton's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Milton highlighted among 10 peers.Read the chart values
Milton, WA (this city): home $511,000, crime 3,015/100k
Altoona, WI : home $220,900, crime 1,839/100k
Mascoutah, IL : home $226,300, crime 390/100k
Coffeyville, KS : home $55,600, crime 3,132/100k
Lancaster, SC : home $226,300, crime 7,243/100k
Franklin, NH : home $243,800, crime 1,352/100k
Toppenish, WA : home $214,200, crime 4,562/100k
Hoquiam, WA : home $196,400, crime 1,877/100k
Othello, WA : home $278,600, crime 2,592/100k
Orting, WA : home $452,800, crime 1,210/100k
How does Milton compare to other US cities?
Here's how Milton stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income71% higher than other cities
Home value85% pricier than other cities
Median rent70% pricier than other cities
Safety16% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to Washington alone, Milton ranks #111 of 156 Washington cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Milton 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 Milton near the bottom of Washington's cities
Among the 599 Washington cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Milton ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Milton only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#246 of 565
56th percentile in Washington
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 599
0th percentile in Washington
Median Home Value
#185 of 565
67th percentile in Washington
Poverty Rate
#198 of 598
67th percentile in Washington
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#343 of 599
43rd 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
71st percentile nationally for median household income · 16th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Milton's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Milton's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Milton's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$511,00015th percentilemore affordable than 15% 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
Milton's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,800 of 15,516
More affordable than 11% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,287 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 5.7×, Milton sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,800 of 15,516 and #10,287 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
$89,804Milton, WA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Milton, 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 Milton, WA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)22.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)8.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)65.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
8,747
Median Income
$89,804
Median Home Value
$511,000
Median Age
38.1
Poverty Rate
8.6%
Labor force participation
65.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
22.8%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
3015.0
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
391.3
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2623.7
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
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
Milton's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
8,786 residents
2021
8,927 residents
2022
8,876 residents
2023
8,810 residents
2024
8,885 residents
2025
8,911 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Slowing
Total Permits (2024)
9
housing units authorized
Single-Family
9
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
12
12
0
$4.0M
2020
133
11
122
$24.1M
2021
8
6
2
$2.7M
2022
3
1
2
$1.1M
2023
55
19
36
$15.0M
2024
9
9
0
$3.6M
Permit volume decreased 25% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
77.5%
Carpool
9.6%
Public Transit
2.0%
Walk
1.2%
Work from Home
8.5%
Other
1.2%
Based on 4,139 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 Milton. 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 Milton 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 Milton sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Milton 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, FBI UCR, 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.