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.
Place dossier plate
SheetAL-JACKSON-AL · Jackson, AL 4,654 pop · income 14th pct · 9 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 Jackson
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Jackson on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Mansfield · lowest
33,726
Mansfield · lowest
33,726 median HH income
28.0% of the leader · rank #1
Jackson · this city
46,250
Jackson · this city
46,250 median HH income
38.4% of the leader · rank #2
Chefornak · near
46,250
Chefornak · near
46,250 median HH income
38.4% of the leader · rank #3
Mountain Pine · near
46,250
Mountain Pine · near
46,250 median HH income
38.4% of the leader · rank #4
Swifton · near
46,250
Swifton · near
46,250 median HH income
38.4% of the leader · rank #5
Clyattville · near
46,250
Clyattville · near
46,250 median HH income
38.4% of the leader · rank #6
Grant-Valkaria · highest
120,500
Grant-Valkaria · highest
120,500 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, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Jackson on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. 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: 4,654.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Jackson - the verdict
Nationally, Jackson sits in the 14th percentile for household income and the 7th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
14th
percentile, household income
18th
percentile, home value
1st
percentile, median rent
7th
percentile, safety
📝 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: Jackson, AL
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 4,654 residents in Jackson, a small town within Alabama. Median household income here is $46,250 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 19.5%. Jackson's housing stock carries a median value of $121,000, and the median resident age is 44.4 years. Educational attainment runs 18.7% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 37.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 4 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Rapid Growth), up 33% from five years earlier. Jackson's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: per-100,000 total crime stands at 4012.6 in FBI UCR data, above the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 65.2°F with 60.2 inches of precipitation per year.
Living costs in Alabama run below the national norm: the state registers 88.8 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Well Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $936 per month statewide. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Alabama run around $245, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Natural-hazard exposure scores 61.5 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Jackson'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 climate and hazard context to reported crime to housing and income to work and mobility to comparison shortlist to population change to within-city variation to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Jackson, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Jackson?
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.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 65.2°F, with 60.2 inches of precipitation. 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.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Jackson?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 4012.6 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 76% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Which cities make useful reference points for Jackson?
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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within Alabama, the closest population matches are Columbiana (4,640 residents, $68,125 income); Childersburg (4,694 residents, $49,178 income); Piedmont (4,749 residents, $41,964 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Grant-Valkaria, FL (4,655 residents); Mansfield, LA (4,653 residents); Boalsburg, PA (4,653 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.
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.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Jackson?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.6 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 19.5%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
2.6×
Home value
$121,000
Household income
$46,250
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What does the journey to work look like in Jackson?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 87.9%. 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. 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.
Drive alone
87.9%
Work from home
2.5%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,417 workers age 16+.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -290 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -6.1% 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.
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.
2020 estimate
4,742
2025 estimate
4,452
Period change
-6.1%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
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.
The NCES join finds 4 public schools within the city match. 18.7% 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.
Poverty estimate
19.5%
Bachelor's degree+
18.7%
Matched public schools
4
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
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
18.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$46,250
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 F
628 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Jackson profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 90/100 (A+) · 88.8 index
Bachelor's+ share: 31/100 (F) · 18.7%
Household income: 15/100 (F) · $46,250
Poverty rate: 14/100 (F) · 19.5%
Violent crime: 9/100 (F) · 628 /100k
Where Jackson sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Jackson's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Jackson highlighted among 27 peers.Read the chart values
Jackson, AL (this city): home $121,000, crime 4,013/100k
Silverthorne, CO : home $691,300, crime 2,288/100k
Columbiana, AL : home $237,800, crime 1,181/100k
Childersburg, AL : home $131,300, crime 3,369/100k
Piedmont, AL : home $106,600, crime 3,226/100k
Hokes Bluff, AL : home $194,900, crime 487/100k
Argo, AL : home $249,700, crime 456/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Jackson compare to other US cities?
Here's how Jackson stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income14% higher than other cities
Home value18% pricier than other cities
Median rent1% pricier than other cities
Safety7% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at Alabama, Jackson ranks #203 of 222 Alabama cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Jackson 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 Jackson near the bottom of Alabama's cities
Among the 556 Alabama cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Jackson ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Jackson only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#342 of 530
35th percentile in Alabama
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 556
0th percentile in Alabama
Median Home Value
#311 of 517
40th percentile in Alabama
Poverty Rate
#128 of 556
77th percentile in Alabama
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#211 of 556
62nd 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
14th percentile nationally for median household income · 7th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Jackson's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Jackson's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Jackson's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$121,000Among the most affordablemore affordable than 82% 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
Jackson's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.6×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#4,598 of 15,516
More affordable than 70% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,081 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.6×, Jackson sits in the affordable band:
national rank #4,598 of 15,516 and #4,081 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
$46,250Jackson, AL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Jackson, 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 Jackson, AL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)18.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)19.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)37.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
4,654
Median Income
$46,250
Median Home Value
$121,000
Median Age
44.4
Poverty Rate
19.5%
Labor force participation
37.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
18.7%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
4012.6
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
627.7
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
3384.9
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Climate
Avg Temperature
65.2°F
Annual Precipitation
60.2"
Annual Snowfall
0.0"
Schools
Total Schools
4
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Jackson's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
4,742 residents
2021
4,659 residents
2022
4,601 residents
2023
4,541 residents
2024
4,489 residents
2025
4,452 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Rapid Growth
Total Permits (2024)
4
housing units authorized
Single-Family
4
detached homes
Multifamily
0
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
3
3
0
$0.5M
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
5
5
0
$1.4M
2024
4
4
0
$1.1M
Permit volume increased 33% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
87.9%
Carpool
4.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.4%
Work from Home
2.5%
Other
5.2%
Based on 1,417 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 Jackson. 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 Jackson 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 Jackson sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Jackson 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, FBI UCR, 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.