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 St. Stephens 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: 350.
350 people call St. Stephens, Alabama home. Source: Census ACS.
20th
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: St. Stephens, AL
350 people live in St. Stephens, Alabama - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Typical homes in St. Stephens are valued around $127,900, and the median resident age is 60.8 years. Educational attainment runs 10.5% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 9.9% 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). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $936 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Alabama run around $245, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. 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 St. Stephens'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 comparison shortlist to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For St. Stephens, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for St. Stephens?
Within Alabama, the closest population matches are Akron (354 residents, $43,375 income); Macedonia (342 residents); Mentone (360 residents, $42,500 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Midville, GA (350 residents); Copeland, KS (350 residents); Sabillasville, MD (350 residents). 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.
What does the journey to work look like in St. Stephens?
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 24.2%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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 D
8.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
10.5%
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).
St. Stephens profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 90/100 (A+) · 88.8 index
Poverty rate: 46/100 (D) · 8.5%
Bachelor's+ share: 8/100 (F) · 10.5%
How does St. Stephens compare to other US cities?
Where St. Stephens sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Home value20% 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 St. Stephens 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 St. Stephens near the bottom of Alabama's cities
Among the 556 Alabama cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, St. Stephens ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares St. Stephens 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
#295 of 517
43rd percentile in Alabama
Poverty Rate
#354 of 556
36th percentile in Alabama
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#397 of 556
28th 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 St. Stephens's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$127,900Among the most affordablemore affordable than 80% 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 St. Stephens in the current Census ACS release (common for very small places).
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)10.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)8.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)9.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
350
Median Income
N/A
Median Home Value
$127,900
Median Age
60.8
Poverty Rate
8.5%
Labor force participation
9.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
10.5%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
24.2%
Carpool
75.8%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
0.0%
Based on 33 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 St. Stephens. 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 St. Stephens 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 St. Stephens sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How St. Stephens 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.