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Place dossier plate
SheetAL-GENEVA-AL · Geneva, AL 4,227 pop · income 18th pct · 6 tracts
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 Geneva
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Geneva on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Ashburn · lowest
32,692
Ashburn · lowest
32,692 median HH income
14.3% of the leader · rank #1
Paris · near
48,789
Paris · near
48,789 median HH income
21.4% of the leader · rank #2
Geneva · this city
48,798
Geneva · this city
48,798 median HH income
21.4% of the leader · rank #3
Bushyhead · near
48,798
Bushyhead · near
48,798 median HH income
21.4% of the leader · rank #4
Pine Harbor · near
48,802
Pine Harbor · near
48,802 median HH income
21.4% of the leader · rank #5
Reading · near
48,804
Reading · near
48,804 median HH income
21.4% of the leader · rank #6
Spring Valley · highest
227,857
Spring Valley · highest
227,857 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 Geneva 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: 4,227.
Geneva ranks in the 18th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
18th
percentile, household income
12th
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: Geneva, AL
4,227 people live in Geneva, Alabama - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Geneva brings in $48,798 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 18.3%. Typical homes in Geneva are valued around $106,500, and the median resident age is 47.5 years. 17.0% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 49.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 4 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Building Boom), up 300% from five years earlier. NOAA puts Geneva's yearly average temperature at 65.4°F with 62.3 inches of precipitation per year and 0.1 inches of snowfall.
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 Geneva'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 schools and households to climate and hazard context to comparison shortlist to within-city variation to work and mobility to housing and income to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Geneva, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, local building permits.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the education layer cover for Geneva?
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 17.0% 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.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 65.4°F, with 62.3 inches of precipitation and 0.1 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Geneva?
Within Alabama, the closest population matches are Pine Level (4,228 residents, $99,444 income); Fayette (4,221 residents, $38,009 income); Lake View (4,238 residents, $96,409 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Comanche, TX (4,227 residents); Ashburn, GA (4,226 residents); Park Rapids, MN (4,226 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.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
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 Geneva?
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 89.2%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.0%
Work from home
3.6%
Drive alone
89.2%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,655 workers age 16+.
How far does income reach against housing in Geneva?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 18.3%, 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. 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.
Household income
$48,798
Home value
$106,500
Value / income
2.2×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +59 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.4% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 4 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
+1.4%
2025 estimate
4,307
2020 estimate
4,248
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
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
17.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$48,798
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
18.3%
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).
Geneva profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 90/100 (A+) · 88.8 index
Bachelor's+ share: 26/100 (F) · 17.0%
Household income: 19/100 (F) · $48,798
Poverty rate: 16/100 (F) · 18.3%
How does Geneva compare to other US cities?
Here's how Geneva stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income18% higher than other cities
Home value12% 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 Geneva 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 Geneva near the bottom of Alabama's cities
Among the 556 Alabama cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Geneva ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Geneva only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#304 of 530
43rd percentile in Alabama
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 556
0th percentile in Alabama
Median Home Value
#369 of 517
28th percentile in Alabama
Poverty Rate
#141 of 556
74th percentile in Alabama
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#246 of 556
55th 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
18th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Geneva's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$106,500Among the most affordablemore affordable than 88% 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
Geneva's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#2,379 of 15,516
More affordable than 85% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,237 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.2×, Geneva sits in the affordable band:
national rank #2,379 of 15,516 and #2,237 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
$48,798Geneva, AL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Geneva, 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 Geneva, AL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)17.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)18.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)49.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
4,227
Median Income
$48,798
Median Home Value
$106,500
Median Age
47.5
Poverty Rate
18.3%
Labor force participation
49.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
17.0%
Climate
Avg Temperature
65.4°F
Annual Precipitation
62.3"
Annual Snowfall
0.1"
Schools
Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Geneva's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
4,248 residents
2021
4,227 residents
2022
4,228 residents
2023
4,242 residents
2024
4,283 residents
2025
4,307 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
4
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
4
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.9
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
1
1
0
$0.1M
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
3
3
0
$0.1M
2023
5
1
4
$0.3M
2024
4
0
4
$0.3M
Permit volume increased 300% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
89.2%
Carpool
7.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
3.6%
Based on 1,655 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 Geneva. 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 Geneva 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 Geneva sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Geneva 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, 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.