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Place dossier plate
SheetAL-BESSEMER-AL · Bessemer, AL 25,655 pop · income 6th 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 Bessemer
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Bessemer on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Smithfield · lowest
37,827
Smithfield · lowest
37,827 median HH income
29.2% of the leader · rank #1
Scotts Hill · near
37,837
Scotts Hill · near
37,837 median HH income
29.2% of the leader · rank #2
Bessemer · this city
37,844
Bessemer · this city
37,844 median HH income
29.2% of the leader · rank #3
Bogalusa · near
37,846
Bogalusa · near
37,846 median HH income
29.2% of the leader · rank #4
Clarksville · near
37,848
Clarksville · near
37,848 median HH income
29.2% of the leader · rank #5
Chamois · near
37,857
Chamois · near
37,857 median HH income
29.2% of the leader · rank #6
Columbine · highest
129,480
Columbine · highest
129,480 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 Bessemer 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: 25,655.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Bessemer - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Bessemer places in the 6th percentile for household income and the 1st percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
6th
percentile, household income
21st
percentile, home value
1st
percentile, median rent
1st
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: Bessemer, AL
Alabama's Bessemer is a small city, with 25,655 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Bessemer households earn a median of $37,844 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 23.9%. Bessemer's housing stock carries a median value of $129,800, and the median resident age is 42.8 years. Educational attainment runs 14.4% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 45.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 37 residential building permits were authorized in Bessemer (Stable), down 3% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Bessemer's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 8867.3 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, above the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Bessemer's yearly average temperature at 63.7°F with 55.5 inches of precipitation per year and 1.2 inches of snowfall.
Living costs in Alabama run below the national norm: the state registers 88.8 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Well Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $936 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Alabama run around $245, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Workers in Bessemer report an average commute of 23.1 minutes, with 76.5% driving alone and 9.6% working from home. Natural-hazard exposure scores 61.5 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Bessemer'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 population change to housing and income to climate and hazard context to work and mobility to reported crime to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Bessemer, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, annual population history, 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
Which cities make useful reference points for Bessemer?
Within Alabama, the closest population matches are Trussville (26,182 residents, $120,794 income); Pelham (24,510 residents, $91,904 income); Athens (27,474 residents, $65,000 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Galt, CA (25,665 residents); Pace, FL (25,630 residents); Columbine, CO (25,681 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.
Is Bessemer growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -952 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -3.7% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 37 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
How far does income reach against housing in Bessemer?
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 23.9%, 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.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 63.7°F, with 55.5 inches of precipitation and 1.2 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Alabama is 61.5 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.
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.
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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Bessemer?
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 76.5%. The reported mean trip to work is 23.1 minutes.
Public transit
1.3%
Work from home
9.6%
Drive alone
76.5%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 9,071 workers age 16+.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Bessemer?
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 8867.3 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 289% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
7123.8
Violent rate
1743.5
Total reported rate
8867.3
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
The NCES join finds 13 public schools within the city match. 14.4% 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 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.
Matched public schools
13
Bachelor's degree+
14.4%
Poverty estimate
23.9%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 23.9% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
88.8 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Alabama average
F
City profile score · Bessemer, AL
23/100
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.
Cost of living A+
88.8 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
14.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
23.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$37,844
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime F
1,744 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Bessemer profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 90/100 (A+) · 88.8 index
Bachelor's+ share: 18/100 (F) · 14.4%
Poverty rate: 7/100 (F) · 23.9%
Household income: 4/100 (F) · $37,844
Violent crime: 0/100 (F) · 1,744 /100k
Where Bessemer sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Bessemer'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 - Bessemer highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
Bessemer, AL (this city): home $129,800, crime 8,867/100k
Galt, CA : home $465,700, crime 1,883/100k
Trussville, AL : home $351,500, crime 2,110/100k
Pelham, AL : home $278,900, crime 893/100k
Athens, AL : home $253,700, crime 2,313/100k
Homewood, AL : home $502,300, crime 2,105/100k
Fairhope, AL : home $406,500, crime 1,261/100k
Daphne, AL : home $309,700, crime 899/100k
How does Bessemer compare to other US cities?
Here's how Bessemer stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income6% higher than other cities
Home value21% pricier than other cities
Median rent1% pricier than other cities
Safety1% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Alabama and the picture shifts: Bessemer ranks #222 of 222 Alabama cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Bessemer against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Alabama only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Alabama-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Bessemer near the bottom of Alabama's cities
Among the 556 Alabama cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Bessemer ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Bessemer only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#434 of 530
18th percentile in Alabama
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 556
0th percentile in Alabama
Median Home Value
#287 of 517
44th percentile in Alabama
Poverty Rate
#85 of 556
85th percentile in Alabama
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#307 of 556
44th percentile in Alabama
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 Alabama only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
6th percentile nationally for median household income · 1st percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Bessemer's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Bessemer'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 Bessemer's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$129,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 79% 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
Bessemer'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
#8,696 of 15,516
More affordable than 44% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,425 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 3.4×, Bessemer sits in the moderate band:
national rank #8,696 of 15,516 and #1,425 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
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
$37,844Bessemer, AL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Bessemer, AL median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Bessemer, AL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)14.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)23.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)45.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
25,655
Median Income
$37,844
Median Home Value
$129,800
Median Age
42.8
Poverty Rate
23.9%
Labor force participation
45.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
14.4%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
8867.3
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
1743.5
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
7123.8
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
63.7°F
Annual Precipitation
55.5"
Annual Snowfall
1.2"
Schools
Total Schools
13
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Bessemer's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
25,936 residents
2021
25,523 residents
2022
25,150 residents
2023
24,950 residents
2024
25,080 residents
2025
24,984 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Stable
Total Permits (2024)
37
housing units authorized
Single-Family
37
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1.4
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
38
38
0
$5.5M
2020
11
11
0
$1.2M
2021
24
24
0
$3.0M
2022
19
19
0
$2.9M
2023
102
102
0
$15.9M
2024
37
37
0
$5.1M
Permit volume decreased 3% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
23.1 minutes
Drive Alone
76.5%
Carpool
9.5%
Public Transit
1.3%
Walk
2.2%
Work from Home
9.6%
Other
0.9%
Based on 9,071 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Alabama statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $245
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Alabama at $245 (electricity about $138 , water and sewer about $45 ).
These are Alabama statewide averages, not a meter reading for Bessemer. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Alabama's BEA cost-of-living index is 88.8 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Bessemer is $936/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Alabama statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 61.5 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Alabama statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Bessemer sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Bessemer compares to similar-size Alabama 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.