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Place dossier plate
SheetAL-FRANKLIN-AL · Franklin, AL 899 pop · income 65th 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 Franklin
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Franklin on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Carrollton · lowest
29,957
Carrollton · lowest
29,957 median HH income
27.2% of the leader · rank #1
West Point · near
83,475
West Point · near
83,475 median HH income
75.7% of the leader · rank #2
Franklin · this city
83,480
Franklin · this city
83,480 median HH income
75.7% of the leader · rank #3
Desert Aire · near
83,482
Desert Aire · near
83,482 median HH income
75.7% of the leader · rank #4
Oak Island · near
83,483
Oak Island · near
83,483 median HH income
75.7% of the leader · rank #5
Louisville · near
83,485
Louisville · near
83,485 median HH income
75.7% of the leader · rank #6
Shoreham · highest
110,231
Shoreham · highest
110,231 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 Franklin 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: 899.
Franklin ranks in the 65th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
65th
percentile, household income
3rd
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: Franklin, AL
899 people live in Franklin, Alabama - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Franklin report a median income of $83,480 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 15.9%. Home values in Franklin run a median of $75,300, and the median resident age is 47.9 years. About 36.0% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 47.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 0 residential building permits were authorized in Franklin (No Permits), per Census BPS data.
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. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Alabama run around $245, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. 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 Franklin'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 population change to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Franklin, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Franklin?
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 Hayneville (895 residents, $30,714 income); Sterrett (895 residents, $63,854 income); White Plains (895 residents, $59,087 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Kettleman, CA (899 residents); Shoreham, MI (899 residents); Billings, MO (899 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Franklin?
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. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 0.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 15.9%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Is Franklin growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -16 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.7% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
What does the journey to work look like in Franklin?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 66.7%. 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. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Above median income · poverty 15.9% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
88.8 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Alabama average
C+
City profile score · Franklin, AL
60/100
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.
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 B-
36.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income C+
$83,480
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
15.9%
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).
Franklin profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 90/100 (A+) · 88.8 index
Bachelor's+ share: 68/100 (B-) · 36.0%
Household income: 63/100 (C+) · $83,480
Poverty rate: 21/100 (F) · 15.9%
How does Franklin compare to other US cities?
Where Franklin sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income65% higher than other cities
Home value3% 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 Franklin 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 Franklin near the bottom of Alabama's cities
Among the 556 Alabama cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Franklin ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Franklin only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#68 of 530
87th percentile in Alabama
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 556
0th percentile in Alabama
Median Home Value
#473 of 517
9th percentile in Alabama
Poverty Rate
#194 of 556
65th percentile in Alabama
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#53 of 556
90th 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
65th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Franklin's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$75,300Among the most affordablemore affordable than 97% 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
Franklin's home-value-to-income ratio: 0.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#23 of 15,516
More affordable than 100% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#23 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 0.9×, Franklin sits in the affordable band:
national rank #23 of 15,516 and #23 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
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
$83,480Franklin, AL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Franklin, 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 Franklin, AL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)36.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)15.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)47.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
899
Median Income
$83,480
Median Home Value
$75,300
Median Age
47.9
Poverty Rate
15.9%
Labor force participation
47.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
36.0%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Franklin's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
589 residents
2021
576 residents
2022
568 residents
2023
568 residents
2024
571 residents
2025
573 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
66.7%
Carpool
2.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
30.9%
Based on 363 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 Franklin. 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 Franklin 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 Franklin sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Franklin 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 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.