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Place dossier plate
SheetAL-FAIRVIEW-AL · Fairview, AL 681 pop · income 15th 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 Fairview
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Fairview on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Antonito · lowest
29,583
Antonito · lowest
29,583 median HH income
18.2% of the leader · rank #1
Fairview · this city
46,750
Fairview · this city
46,750 median HH income
28.8% of the leader · rank #2
Lyerly · near
46,750
Lyerly · near
46,750 median HH income
28.8% of the leader · rank #3
Grandview · near
46,750
Grandview · near
46,750 median HH income
28.8% of the leader · rank #4
Grey Eagle · near
46,750
Grey Eagle · near
46,750 median HH income
28.8% of the leader · rank #5
Conception · near
46,750
Conception · near
46,750 median HH income
28.8% of the leader · rank #6
Sewickley Hil… · highest
162,361
Sewickley Hil… · highest
162,361 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 Fairview 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: 681.
Nationally, Fairview sits in the 15th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
15th
percentile, household income
47th
percentile, home value
1st
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: Fairview, AL
681 people live in Fairview, Alabama - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Fairview report a median income of $46,750 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 19.5%. Typical homes in Fairview are valued around $215,400, and the median resident age is 37.3 years. About 16.7% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 48.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Living costs in Alabama run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Alabama scores 88.8 (Well Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $936 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $245 across Alabama, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 61.5 out of 100 (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Fairview'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 housing and income to work and mobility to comparison shortlist to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Fairview, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Fairview?
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 4.6 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 19.5%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
What does the journey to work look like in Fairview?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 80.5%. 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Fairview?
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.
Within Alabama, the closest population matches are Pinckard (679 residents, $56,071 income); Reeltown (690 residents, $38,802 income); Shelby (691 residents). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Antonito, CO (681 residents); Fordland, MO (681 residents); Osmond, NE (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.
Is Fairview growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +21 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +4.0% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
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
16.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$46,750
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
19.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Fairview profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 90/100 (A+) · 88.8 index
Bachelor's+ share: 25/100 (F) · 16.7%
Household income: 16/100 (F) · $46,750
Poverty rate: 14/100 (F) · 19.5%
How does Fairview compare to other US cities?
Here's how Fairview stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income15% higher than other cities
Home value47% pricier than other cities
Median rent1% 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 Fairview 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 Fairview near the bottom of Alabama's cities
Among the 556 Alabama cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Fairview ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Fairview only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#334 of 530
37th percentile in Alabama
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 556
0th percentile in Alabama
Median Home Value
#87 of 517
83rd percentile in Alabama
Poverty Rate
#128 of 556
77th percentile in Alabama
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#253 of 556
54th 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
15th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Fairview's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$215,400Among the most affordablemore affordable than 53% 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
Fairview's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.6×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#12,193 of 15,516
More affordable than 21% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#9,310 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.6×, Fairview sits in the moderate band:
national rank #12,193 of 15,516 and #9,310 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
$46,750Fairview, AL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Fairview, 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 Fairview, AL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)16.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)19.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)48.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
681
Median Income
$46,750
Median Home Value
$215,400
Median Age
37.3
Poverty Rate
19.5%
Labor force participation
48.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
16.7%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Fairview's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
524 residents
2021
530 residents
2022
536 residents
2023
538 residents
2024
539 residents
2025
545 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
80.5%
Carpool
15.9%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
3.3%
Based on 246 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 Fairview. 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 Fairview 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 Fairview sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Fairview 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, 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.