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Place dossier plate
SheetWA-RIVER-ROAD-WA · River Road, WA 952 pop · income 86th 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 River Road
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest River Road on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Pamplico · lowest
24,646
Pamplico · lowest
24,646 median HH income
20.2% of the leader · rank #1
Highgate Cent… · near
116,049
Highgate Cent… · near
116,049 median HH income
95.0% of the leader · rank #2
Lake Wisconsin · near
116,053
Lake Wisconsin · near
116,053 median HH income
95.0% of the leader · rank #3
Mead · near
116,074
Mead · near
116,074 median HH income
95.0% of the leader · rank #4
Wilton Center · near
116,081
Wilton Center · near
116,081 median HH income
95.0% of the leader · rank #5
River Road · this city
116,087
River Road · this city
116,087 median HH income
95.0% of the leader · rank #6
Shawnee · highest
122,206
Shawnee · highest
122,206 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 River Road 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: 952.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, River Road places in the 86th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
86th
percentile, household income
77th
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: River Road, WA
952 people live in River Road, Washington - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in River Road brings in $116,087 a year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 8.3%. Home values in River Road run a median of $394,200, and the median resident age is 40.7 years. About 20.8% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 52.9% 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. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,472 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $188 across Washington, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. 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 River Road'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 River Road, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for annual population history, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, 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 River Road?
Within Washington, the closest population matches are Bell Hill (951 residents, $75,765 income); Waitsburg (940 residents, $72,917 income); Tonasket (976 residents, $38,273 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are North Perry, OH (952 residents); Shawnee, OH (952 residents); Pamplico, SC (952 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 River Road?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 8.3%, 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 does the journey to work look like in River Road?
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 85.8%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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-
$116,087
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate D
8.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
20.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; 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).
River Road profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 84/100 (A-) · $116,087
Poverty rate: 46/100 (D) · 8.3%
Bachelor's+ share: 37/100 (F) · 20.8%
Cost of living: 15/100 (F) · 107.0 index
How does River Road compare to other US cities?
River Road measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income86% higher than other cities
Home value77% 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 River Road 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 River Road near the bottom of Washington's cities
Among the 599 Washington cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, River Road ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares River Road only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#121 of 565
79th percentile in Washington
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 599
0th percentile in Washington
Median Home Value
#307 of 565
46th percentile in Washington
Poverty Rate
#207 of 598
65th percentile in Washington
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#387 of 599
35th 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
86th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How River Road's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$394,20023rd percentilemore affordable than 23% 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
River Road's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#8,557 of 15,516
More affordable than 45% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#6,947 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.4×, River Road sits in the moderate band:
national rank #8,557 of 15,516 and #6,947 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
$116,087River Road, WA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context River Road, 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 River Road, WA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)20.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)8.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)52.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
952
Median Income
$116,087
Median Home Value
$394,200
Median Age
40.7
Poverty Rate
8.3%
Labor force participation
52.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
20.8%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
85.8%
Carpool
9.9%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
4.4%
Based on 344 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 River Road. 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 River Road 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 River Road sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How River Road 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.