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Place dossier plate
SheetAL-HARTFORD-AL · Hartford, AL 2,677 pop · income 26th 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 Hartford
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Hartford on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
La Fayette · lowest
32,999
La Fayette · lowest
32,999 median HH income
22.3% of the leader · rank #1
Hartford · this city
54,286
Hartford · this city
54,286 median HH income
36.7% of the leader · rank #2
Winchester · near
54,286
Winchester · near
54,286 median HH income
36.7% of the leader · rank #3
Jefferson · near
54,286
Jefferson · near
54,286 median HH income
36.7% of the leader · rank #4
Copper Harbor · near
54,286
Copper Harbor · near
54,286 median HH income
36.7% of the leader · rank #5
Hazelton · near
54,286
Hazelton · near
54,286 median HH income
36.7% of the leader · rank #6
Seaville · highest
148,095
Seaville · highest
148,095 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 Hartford 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: 2,677.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Hartford places in the 26th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
26th
percentile, household income
27th
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: Hartford, AL
2,677 people live in Hartford, Alabama - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $54,286 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 12.5%. Hartford's housing stock carries a median value of $151,400, and the median resident age is 36.2 years. About 8.5% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 52.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 11 residential building permits were authorized in Hartford (Stable), up 0% from five years earlier, 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. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $936 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Alabama's average monthly utility costs around $245 (state average). On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 61.5 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Hartford'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 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 Hartford, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, local building permits, commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the education layer cover for Hartford?
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 8.5% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Hartford?
Within Alabama, the closest population matches are Owens Cross Roads (2,678 residents, $73,708 income); La Fayette (2,665 residents, $32,999 income); Luverne (2,713 residents, $51,537 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Newtown, OH (2,677 residents); Central Heights-Midland, AZ (2,678 residents); White Mountain Lake, AZ (2,678 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Hartford?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 12.5%, 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.
Is Hartford growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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 +139 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +5.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 11 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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 Hartford?
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 91.0%. 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
5.0%
Drive alone
91.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,029 workers age 16+.
Below median income · poverty 12.5% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
88.8 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Alabama average
F
City profile score · Hartford, AL
39/100
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.
Poverty rate F
12.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$54,286
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
8.5%
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).
Hartford profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 90/100 (A+) · 88.8 index
Poverty rate: 30/100 (F) · 12.5%
Household income: 26/100 (F) · $54,286
Bachelor's+ share: 2/100 (F) · 8.5%
How does Hartford compare to other US cities?
Here's how Hartford stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income26% higher than other cities
Home value27% 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 Hartford 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 Hartford near the bottom of Alabama's cities
Among the 556 Alabama cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Hartford ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Hartford only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#254 of 530
52nd percentile in Alabama
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 556
0th percentile in Alabama
Median Home Value
#231 of 517
55th percentile in Alabama
Poverty Rate
#254 of 556
54th percentile in Alabama
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#445 of 556
20th 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
26th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Hartford's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$151,400Among the most affordablemore affordable than 73% 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
Hartford's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,520 of 15,516
More affordable than 64% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,800 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.8×, Hartford sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,520 of 15,516 and #4,800 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
$54,286Hartford, AL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Hartford, 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 Hartford, AL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)8.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)12.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)52.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,677
Median Income
$54,286
Median Home Value
$151,400
Median Age
36.2
Poverty Rate
12.5%
Labor force participation
52.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
8.5%
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
Hartford's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,662 residents
2021
2,666 residents
2022
2,697 residents
2023
2,735 residents
2024
2,773 residents
2025
2,801 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Stable
Total Permits (2024)
11
housing units authorized
Single-Family
11
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
4.1
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
11
11
0
$1.4M
2020
14
14
0
$1.8M
2021
16
16
0
$2.0M
2022
12
12
0
$1.5M
2023
11
11
0
$1.4M
2024
11
11
0
$1.4M
Permit volume increased 0% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
91.0%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.6%
Work from Home
5.0%
Based on 1,029 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 Hartford. 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 Hartford 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 Hartford sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Hartford 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, 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.