Ralston vs Waterloo

A side-by-side comparison of Ralston and Waterloo: population, income, housing, and more.

Ralston and Waterloo are places in Nebraska. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Ralston has the higher population (6,445 vs 950 in Waterloo). Waterloo has the higher median household income ($75,417 vs $65,557 in Ralston). Waterloo has the higher median home value ($218,400 vs $215,800 in Ralston).

Population, income & housing

	Ralston	Waterloo
Population	6,445	950
Median age	36.8 yrs	38.5 yrs
Median household income	$65,557	$75,417
Median home value	$215,800	$218,400
Median gross rent	$1,178	$1,125
Housing units	3,078	394
Homeownership rate	58.3%	77.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	27.0%	18.3%
Unemployment rate	2.2%	0.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Ralston	Waterloo
Population	7,321 → 6,445 (-12.0%)	966 → 950 (-1.7%)
Median household income	$62,816 → $65,557 (+4.4%)	$64,821 → $75,417 (+16.3%)
Median home value	$147,000 → $215,800 (+46.8%)	$143,200 → $218,400 (+52.5%)
Median gross rent	$917 → $1,178 (+28.5%)	$880 → $1,125 (+27.8%)

Ralston

Population

7,3216,445

Median household income

$62,816$65,557

Median home value

$147,000$215,800

Median gross rent

$917$1,178

Waterloo

Population

966950

Median household income

$64,821$75,417

Median home value

$143,200$218,400

Median gross rent

$880$1,125

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Ralston	Waterloo
Under 5	5.8%	2.6%
5 to 17	13.8%	20.3%
18 to 24	10.1%	3.1%
25 to 34	17.0%	13.3%
35 to 44	11.5%	16.2%
45 to 54	9.7%	11.8%
55 to 64	12.9%	16.4%
65 to 74	11.9%	13.1%
75 and over	7.3%	3.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Ralston	Waterloo
White (non-Hispanic)	71.7%	90.6%
Black or African American	0.8%	2.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.1%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.5%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.1%	3.3%
Hispanic or Latino	23.7%	3.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Ralston	Waterloo
No high school diploma	11.2%	7.0%
High school graduate	27.8%	41.1%
Some college or associate's	34.0%	33.6%
Bachelor's degree	20.7%	12.1%
Graduate or professional degree	6.3%	6.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Ralston	Waterloo
Drove alone	81.7%	82.8%
Carpooled	10.2%	3.0%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	0.0%	2.1%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	8.2%	12.1%
Other means	0.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Ralston	Waterloo
1-unit, detached	59.4%	78.4%
1-unit, attached	5.7%	10.9%
2 to 4 units	1.6%	5.3%
5 to 19 units	14.9%	4.8%
20 or more units	18.4%	0.5%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	0.0%

Poverty & households

	Ralston	Waterloo
Poverty rate	7.6%	6.4%
Average household size	2.20	2.42
Mean commute (minutes)	20	26
Median year structure built	1974	1986