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Place dossier plate
SheetAL-LAKE-VIEW-AL · Lake View, AL 4,238 pop · income 75th pct · 8 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 Lake View
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Lake View on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Fayette · lowest
38,009
Fayette · lowest
38,009 median HH income
30.2% of the leader · rank #1
Lake View · this city
96,409
Lake View · this city
96,409 median HH income
76.7% of the leader · rank #2
Capitola · near
96,412
Capitola · near
96,412 median HH income
76.7% of the leader · rank #3
Warm Beach · near
96,413
Warm Beach · near
96,413 median HH income
76.7% of the leader · rank #4
Coldstream · near
96,417
Coldstream · near
96,417 median HH income
76.7% of the leader · rank #5
Lafayette · near
96,419
Lafayette · near
96,419 median HH income
76.7% of the leader · rank #6
Ovilla · highest
125,777
Ovilla · highest
125,777 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 Lake View 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: 4,238.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Lake View - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Lake View places in the 75th percentile for household income and the 92nd percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
75th
percentile, household income
63rd
percentile, home value
1st
percentile, median rent
92nd
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: Lake View, AL
Lake View is a small town in Alabama, home to 4,238 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Lake View report a median income of $96,409 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 1.9%. Typical homes in Lake View are valued around $285,700, and the median resident age is 38.1 years. 32.9% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 63.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 43 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Rapid Growth), up 23% from five years earlier. Lake View reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 335.8 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
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. 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 Lake View'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 reported crime to within-city variation to comparison shortlist to population change to work and mobility to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Lake View, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What can the FBI record say about safety in Lake View?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 335.8 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 85% lower 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.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Lake View?
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 Pine Level (4,228 residents, $99,444 income); Geneva (4,227 residents, $48,798 income); Fayette (4,221 residents, $38,009 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Caldwell, TX (4,238 residents); Farrell, PA (4,239 residents); Greencastle, PA (4,237 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.
Is Lake View growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +411 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +11.6% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 43 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 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.
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 Lake View?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 90.1%. 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
90.1%
Work from home
4.6%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 2,159 workers age 16+.
How far does income reach against housing in Lake View?
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 3.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 1.9%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
3.0×
Home value
$285,700
Household income
$96,409
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
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 A
1.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime B+
78 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income B+
$96,409
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share C+
32.9%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Lake View profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 90/100 (A+) · 88.8 index
Poverty rate: 86/100 (A) · 1.9%
Violent crime: 76/100 (B+) · 78 /100k
Household income: 75/100 (B+) · $96,409
Bachelor's+ share: 63/100 (C+) · 32.9%
Where Lake View sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Lake View'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 - Lake View highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
Lake View, AL (this city): home $285,700, crime 336/100k
Caldwell, TX : home $191,900, crime 607/100k
Farrell, PA : home $76,200, crime 2,543/100k
Ovilla, TX : home $396,000, crime 433/100k
Lawrenceville, IL : home $77,600, crime 117/100k
Fayette, AL : home $122,100, crime 1,446/100k
Haleyville, AL : home $96,300, crime 3,850/100k
Adamsville, AL : home $144,700, crime 3,722/100k
Kimberly, AL : home $286,900, crime 464/100k
How does Lake View compare to other US cities?
Lake View measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income75% higher than other cities
Home value63% pricier than other cities
Median rent1% pricier than other cities
Safety92% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to Alabama alone, Lake View ranks #11 of 222 Alabama cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Lake View 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 Lake View near the bottom of Alabama's cities
Among the 556 Alabama cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Lake View ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Lake View only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#38 of 530
93rd percentile in Alabama
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 556
0th percentile in Alabama
Median Home Value
#36 of 517
93rd percentile in Alabama
Poverty Rate
#491 of 556
11th percentile in Alabama
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#71 of 556
87th 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
75th percentile nationally for median household income · 92nd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Lake View's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Lake View'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 Lake View's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$285,70037th percentilemore affordable than 37% 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
Lake View's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#6,496 of 15,516
More affordable than 58% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#5,528 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.0×, Lake View sits in the affordable band:
national rank #6,496 of 15,516 and #5,528 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
$96,409Lake View, AL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Lake View, 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 Lake View, AL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)32.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)1.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)63.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
4,238
Median Income
$96,409
Median Home Value
$285,700
Median Age
38.1
Poverty Rate
1.9%
Labor force participation
63.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
32.9%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
335.8
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
77.5
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
258.3
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.
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Lake View's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
3,558 residents
2021
3,625 residents
2022
3,707 residents
2023
3,780 residents
2024
3,878 residents
2025
3,969 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Rapid Growth
Total Permits (2024)
43
housing units authorized
Single-Family
43
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
10.1
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
35
35
0
$9.8M
2020
46
46
0
$12.4M
2021
53
53
0
$14.3M
2022
44
44
0
$11.9M
2023
42
42
0
$11.3M
2024
43
43
0
$11.6M
Permit volume increased 23% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
90.1%
Carpool
3.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.8%
Work from Home
4.6%
Based on 2,159 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 Lake View. 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 Lake View 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 Lake View sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Lake View 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, 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.