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Place dossier plate
SheetWA-MONROE-WA · Monroe, WA 19,696 pop · income 82nd 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 Monroe
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Monroe on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Lexington · lowest
41,775
Lexington · lowest
41,775 median HH income
27.2% of the leader · rank #1
Shenandoah · near
107,544
Shenandoah · near
107,544 median HH income
70.1% of the leader · rank #2
Bridgeville · near
107,548
Bridgeville · near
107,548 median HH income
70.1% of the leader · rank #3
Bolingbrook · near
107,552
Bolingbrook · near
107,552 median HH income
70.1% of the leader · rank #4
Monroe · this city
107,556
Monroe · this city
107,556 median HH income
70.1% of the leader · rank #5
Snowmass · near
107,559
Snowmass · near
107,559 median HH income
70.1% of the leader · rank #6
East Northport · highest
153,380
East Northport · highest
153,380 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 Monroe 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: 19,696.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Monroe - the verdict
Nationally, Monroe sits in the 82nd percentile for household income and the 32nd percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
82nd
percentile, household income
89th
percentile, home value
70th
percentile, median rent
32nd
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: Monroe, WA
19,696 people live in Monroe, Washington - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Monroe households earn a median of $107,556 annually, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 5.2%. Monroe's housing stock carries a median value of $594,300, and the median resident age is 35.1 years. 26.7% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 57.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 88 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 74% from five years earlier. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: per-100,000 total crime stands at 2009.6 in FBI UCR data, near the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Monroe's yearly average temperature at 49.5°F with 50.8 inches of precipitation per year and 3.0 inches of snowfall.
Washington carries a cost-of-living premium: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Washington at 107.0 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Above Average). 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 Monroe'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 reported crime to comparison shortlist to climate and hazard context to housing and income to schools and households to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Monroe, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, 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.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in Monroe?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 69.6%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Monroe?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2009.6 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 12% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Monroe?
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.
Within Washington, the closest population matches are Salmon Creek (19,594 residents, $100,534 income); Port Angeles (20,087 residents, $61,640 income); Ellensburg (18,913 residents, $49,888 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Lexington, NC (19,691 residents); Erlanger, KY (19,677 residents); East Northport, NY (19,672 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.
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.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 49.5°F, with 50.8 inches of precipitation and 3.0 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Washington is 70.0 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.
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 Monroe?
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 home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.2%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
5.5×
Home value
$594,300
Household income
$107,556
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 8 public schools within the city match. 26.7% 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.
Poverty estimate
5.2%
Bachelor's degree+
26.7%
Matched public schools
8
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Census PEP estimates show the population was unchanged by +0 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.0% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 88 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
2020 estimate
20,025
2025 estimate
20,025
Period change
+0.0%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
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-
$107,556
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate C+
5.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share C-
26.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime D
239 /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.
Monroe profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 80/100 (A-) · $107,556
Poverty rate: 64/100 (C+) · 5.2%
Bachelor's+ share: 52/100 (C-) · 26.7%
Violent crime: 42/100 (D) · 239 /100k
Cost of living: 15/100 (F) · 107.0 index
Where Monroe sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Monroe'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 - Monroe highlighted among 10 peers.Read the chart values
Monroe, WA (this city): home $594,300, crime 2,010/100k
Lexington, NC : home $158,100, crime 3,458/100k
Erlanger, KY : home $189,400, crime 595/100k
Lake Zurich, IL : home $418,300, crime 1,272/100k
Tavares, FL : home $225,500, crime 308/100k
Port Angeles, WA : home $324,800, crime 3,050/100k
Ellensburg, WA : home $357,800, crime 2,409/100k
Arlington, WA : home $492,600, crime 2,559/100k
Mill Creek, WA : home $836,300, crime 1,958/100k
Centralia, WA : home $267,600, crime 3,008/100k
How does Monroe compare to other US cities?
Monroe measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income82% higher than other cities
Home value89% pricier than other cities
Median rent70% pricier than other cities
Safety32% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at Washington, Monroe ranks #78 of 156 Washington cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Monroe 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 Monroe near the bottom of Washington's cities
Among the 599 Washington cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Monroe ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Monroe only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#154 of 565
73rd percentile in Washington
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 599
0th percentile in Washington
Median Home Value
#139 of 565
75th percentile in Washington
Poverty Rate
#306 of 598
47th percentile in Washington
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#282 of 599
52nd 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
82nd percentile nationally for median household income · 32nd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Monroe's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Monroe'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 Monroe's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$594,30011th percentilemore affordable than 11% 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
Monroe's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,613 of 15,516
More affordable than 12% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,828 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 5.5×, Monroe sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,613 of 15,516 and #2,828 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
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
$107,556Monroe, WA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Monroe, 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 Monroe, WA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)26.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.2%
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
19,696
Median Income
$107,556
Median Home Value
$594,300
Median Age
35.1
Poverty Rate
5.2%
Labor force participation
57.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
26.7%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2009.6
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
238.9
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1770.7
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.
Climate
Avg Temperature
49.5°F
Annual Precipitation
50.8"
Annual Snowfall
3.0"
Schools
Total Schools
8
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Monroe's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
20,025 residents
2021
19,791 residents
2022
19,382 residents
2023
19,542 residents
2024
19,874 residents
2025
20,025 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
88
housing units authorized
Single-Family
88
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
4.5
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
337
119
218
$68.3M
2020
119
85
34
$35.5M
2021
119
81
38
$38.5M
2022
61
58
3
$23.8M
2023
88
88
0
$39.1M
2024
88
88
0
$38.4M
Permit volume decreased 74% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
69.6%
Carpool
11.0%
Public Transit
1.7%
Walk
2.4%
Work from Home
13.7%
Other
1.6%
Based on 8,986 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 Monroe. 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 Monroe 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 Monroe sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Monroe 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, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.