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Place dossier plate
SheetAK-SOUTH-VAN-HORN-AK · South Van Horn, AK 354 pop · income 46th 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 South Van Horn
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest South Van Horn on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Creal Springs · lowest
43,333
Creal Springs · lowest
43,333 median HH income
32.7% of the leader · rank #1
East Hartford · near
66,943
East Hartford · near
66,943 median HH income
50.5% of the leader · rank #2
South Van Horn · this city
66,944
South Van Horn · this city
66,944 median HH income
50.5% of the leader · rank #3
Bartow · near
66,944
Bartow · near
66,944 median HH income
50.5% of the leader · rank #4
Nappanee · near
66,944
Nappanee · near
66,944 median HH income
50.5% of the leader · rank #5
Boyd · near
66,944
Boyd · near
66,944 median HH income
50.5% of the leader · rank #6
King Salmon · highest
132,500
King Salmon · highest
132,500 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 South Van Horn 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: 354.
Nationally, South Van Horn sits in the 46th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
46th
percentile, household income
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: South Van Horn, AK
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 354 residents in South Van Horn, a small town within Alaska. South Van Horn households earn a median of $66,944 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 5.1%. The median resident age is 46.4 years. 6.2% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 50.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Alaska tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: the state registers 102.4 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Near Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,467 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $271 across Alaska, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 35.2 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of South Van Horn'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 work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For South Van Horn, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, 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 South Van Horn?
Within Alaska, the closest population matches are King Salmon (354 residents, $132,500 income); Saxman (354 residents, $49,808 income); St. Paul (362 residents, $98,750 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Akron, AL (354 residents); Junction City, GA (354 residents); Creal Springs, IL (354 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.
What does the journey to work look like in South Van Horn?
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 87.5%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Below median income · poverty 5.1% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
102.4 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Alaska average
F
City profile score · South Van Horn, AK
38/100
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.
Poverty rate B-
5.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income D
$66,944
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Cost of living F
102.4 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Bachelor's+ share F
6.2%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
South Van Horn profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 65/100 (B-) · 5.1%
Household income: 45/100 (D) · $66,944
Cost of living: 29/100 (F) · 102.4 index
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 6.2%
How does South Van Horn compare to other US cities?
Here's how South Van Horn stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income46% higher 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 South Van Horn against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Alaska only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Alaska-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places South Van Horn near the bottom of Alaska's cities
Among the 228 Alaska cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, South Van Horn ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares South Van Horn only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#108 of 215
50th percentile in Alaska
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 228
0th percentile in Alaska
Poverty Rate
#158 of 225
29th percentile in Alaska
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#165 of 228
27th percentile in Alaska
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 Alaska only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
46th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Income distribution context
$66,944South Van Horn, AK median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context South Van Horn, AK median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for South Van Horn, AK.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)6.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)50.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
354
Median Income
$66,944
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
46.4
Poverty Rate
5.1%
Labor force participation
50.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
6.2%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
87.5%
Carpool
3.3%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
7.2%
Work from Home
2.0%
Based on 152 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Alaska statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $271
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Alaska at $271 (electricity about $131 , water and sewer about $45 ).
These are Alaska statewide averages, not a meter reading for South Van Horn. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Alaska's BEA cost-of-living index is 102.4 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around South Van Horn is $1,467/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Alaska statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 35.2 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Alaska statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county South Van Horn sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How South Van Horn compares to similar-size Alaska 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.