Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
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.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Hobson 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: 156.
Hobson has 156 residents in Alabama. Source: Census ACS.
41st
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: Hobson, AL
Alabama's Hobson is a small town, with 156 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Typical homes in Hobson are valued around $195,500, and the median resident age is 49.1 years. About 9.5% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 60.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Living costs in Alabama run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Alabama at 88.8 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). 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). Workers in Hobson report an average commute of 32.6 minutes, with 100.0% driving alone and 0.0% working from home. 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 Hobson'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 work and mobility to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Hobson, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in Hobson?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 100.0%. The reported mean trip to work is 32.6 minutes.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Hobson?
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 Fairford (155 residents, $94,309 income); Pine Apple (157 residents, $43,125 income); Sweet Water (157 residents, $65,000 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Fisher, AR (156 residents); Rover, AR (156 residents); Black Hawk, CO (156 residents). These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
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.
Poverty rate A+
0.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
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
9.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income N/A
N/A
No ACS median household income on file for this place.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Hobson profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 100/100 (A+) · 0.0%
Cost of living: 90/100 (A+) · 88.8 index
Bachelor's+ share: 5/100 (F) · 9.5%
How does Hobson compare to other US cities?
Hobson measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Home value41% 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 Hobson 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 Hobson near the bottom of Alabama's cities
Among the 556 Alabama cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Hobson ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Hobson only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 556
0th percentile in Alabama
Median Home Value
#128 of 517
75th percentile in Alabama
Poverty Rate
#511 of 556
0th percentile in Alabama
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#421 of 556
24th 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.
How Hobson's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$195,500Among the most affordablemore affordable than 59% 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
Income distribution context
Median household income is not available for Hobson in the current Census ACS release (common for very small places).
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)9.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)60.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
156
Median Income
N/A
Median Home Value
$195,500
Median Age
49.1
Poverty Rate
0.0%
Labor force participation
60.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
9.5%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
32.6 minutes
Drive Alone
100.0%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
0.0%
Based on 95 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 Hobson. 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 Hobson 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 Hobson sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Hobson 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.