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Place dossier plate
SheetAL-MUSCLE-SHOALS-AL · Muscle Shoals, AL 16,670 pop · income 51st 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 Muscle Shoals
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Muscle Shoals on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Vincennes · lowest
50,238
Vincennes · lowest
50,238 median HH income
44.4% of the leader · rank #1
East Bank · near
70,917
East Bank · near
70,917 median HH income
62.7% of the leader · rank #2
Bradshaw · near
70,919
Bradshaw · near
70,919 median HH income
62.7% of the leader · rank #3
Cornville · near
70,925
Cornville · near
70,925 median HH income
62.7% of the leader · rank #4
Muscle Shoals · this city
70,927
Muscle Shoals · this city
70,927 median HH income
62.7% of the leader · rank #5
Patricksburg · near
70,931
Patricksburg · near
70,931 median HH income
62.7% of the leader · rank #6
Youngsville · highest
113,164
Youngsville · highest
113,164 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 Muscle Shoals 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: 16,670.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Muscle Shoals - the verdict
Nationally, Muscle Shoals sits in the 51st percentile for household income and the 14th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
51st
percentile, household income
42nd
percentile, home value
1st
percentile, median rent
14th
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: Muscle Shoals, AL
Muscle Shoals is a small town in Alabama, home to 16,670 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $70,927 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 10.7%. Muscle Shoals's housing stock carries a median value of $198,300, and the median resident age is 37.2 years. About 24.4% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 63.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 60 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 56% from five years earlier. Muscle Shoals's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 3165.5 crimes per 100,000 residents, above the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score). The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 60.7°F with 57.6 inches of precipitation per year.
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). 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 Muscle Shoals'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 to population change to climate and hazard context to schools and households to housing and income to reported crime; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Muscle Shoals, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, local building permits.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Muscle Shoals?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 79.4%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Which cities make useful reference points for Muscle Shoals?
Within Alabama, the closest population matches are Hueytown (16,541 residents, $62,362 income); Millbrook (16,923 residents, $64,522 income); Saraland (16,304 residents, $60,577 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Eloy, AZ (16,671 residents); Fillmore, CA (16,665 residents); Vincennes, IN (16,676 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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Is Muscle Shoals 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 +1,292 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +7.9% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 60 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
What physical conditions frame life in Muscle Shoals?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 60.7°F, with 57.6 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.
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.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Muscle Shoals?
The NCES join finds 6 public schools within the city match. 24.4% 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.
Matched public schools
6
Bachelor's degree+
24.4%
Poverty estimate
10.7%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
How far does income reach against housing in Muscle Shoals?
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 10.7%, 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.
Household income
$70,927
Home value
$198,300
Value / income
2.8×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Muscle Shoals?
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.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 3165.5 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 39% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
2982.7
Violent rate
182.8
Total reported rate
3165.5
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Above median income · poverty 10.7% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
88.8 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Alabama average
C
City profile score · Muscle Shoals, AL
55/100
5 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.
Household income C-
$70,927
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime C-
183 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share D
24.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
10.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Muscle Shoals profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 90/100 (A+) · 88.8 index
Household income: 50/100 (C-) · $70,927
Violent crime: 50/100 (C-) · 183 /100k
Bachelor's+ share: 47/100 (D) · 24.4%
Poverty rate: 37/100 (F) · 10.7%
Where Muscle Shoals sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Muscle Shoals'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 - Muscle Shoals highlighted among 10 peers.Read the chart values
Muscle Shoals, AL (this city): home $198,300, crime 3,166/100k
Eloy, AZ : home $243,600, crime 1,455/100k
Fillmore, CA : home $567,500, crime 855/100k
Vincennes, IN : home $98,700, crime 2,631/100k
Red Wing, MN : home $224,800, crime 2,355/100k
Hueytown, AL : home $142,900, crime 3,091/100k
Millbrook, AL : home $193,600, crime 3,681/100k
Saraland, AL : home $210,500, crime 1,787/100k
Calera, AL : home $214,200, crime 1,563/100k
Gardendale, AL : home $234,900, crime 1,785/100k
How does Muscle Shoals compare to other US cities?
Here's how Muscle Shoals stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income51% higher than other cities
Home value42% pricier than other cities
Median rent1% pricier than other cities
Safety14% 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, Muscle Shoals ranks #171 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 Muscle Shoals 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 Muscle Shoals near the bottom of Alabama's cities
Among the 556 Alabama cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Muscle Shoals ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Muscle Shoals only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#122 of 530
77th percentile in Alabama
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 556
0th percentile in Alabama
Median Home Value
#123 of 517
76th percentile in Alabama
Poverty Rate
#299 of 556
46th percentile in Alabama
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#130 of 556
76th 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
51st percentile nationally for median household income · 14th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Muscle Shoals's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Muscle Shoals'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 Muscle Shoals's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$198,300Among the most affordablemore affordable than 58% 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
Muscle Shoals's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,564 of 15,516
More affordable than 64% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#649 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 2.8×, Muscle Shoals sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,564 of 15,516 and #649 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
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
$70,927Muscle Shoals, AL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Muscle Shoals, 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 Muscle Shoals, AL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)24.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)10.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)63.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
16,670
Median Income
$70,927
Median Home Value
$198,300
Median Age
37.2
Poverty Rate
10.7%
Labor force participation
63.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
24.4%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
3165.5
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
182.8
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2982.7
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
60.7°F
Annual Precipitation
57.6"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Schools
Total Schools
6
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Muscle Shoals's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
16,374 residents
2021
16,703 residents
2022
17,054 residents
2023
17,259 residents
2024
17,486 residents
2025
17,666 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
60
housing units authorized
Single-Family
60
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
3.6
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
137
137
0
$16.2M
2020
163
163
0
$19.3M
2021
184
184
0
$21.7M
2022
70
70
0
$8.9M
2023
51
51
0
$7.0M
2024
60
60
0
$7.5M
Permit volume decreased 56% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
79.4%
Carpool
6.6%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.2%
Work from Home
13.7%
Based on 8,271 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 Muscle Shoals. 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 Muscle Shoals 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 Muscle Shoals sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Muscle Shoals 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.