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Place dossier plate
SheetAL-THEODORE-AL · Theodore, AL 4,950 pop · income 36th 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 Theodore
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Theodore on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Gilmer · lowest
41,279
Gilmer · lowest
41,279 median HH income
51.6% of the leader · rank #1
Twin Falls · near
60,760
Twin Falls · near
60,760 median HH income
75.9% of the leader · rank #2
Theodore · this city
60,764
Theodore · this city
60,764 median HH income
75.9% of the leader · rank #3
Edna · near
60,765
Edna · near
60,765 median HH income
75.9% of the leader · rank #4
Bellevue · near
60,769
Bellevue · near
60,769 median HH income
75.9% of the leader · rank #5
Roachdale · near
60,769
Roachdale · near
60,769 median HH income
75.9% of the leader · rank #6
Kanab · highest
80,040
Kanab · highest
80,040 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
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Theodore 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: 4,950.
Theodore ranks in the 36th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
36th
percentile, household income
27th
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: Theodore, AL
Theodore is a small town in Alabama, home to 4,950 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Theodore brings in $60,764 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 19.3%. Typical homes in Theodore are valued around $151,800, and the median resident age is 39.6 years. Educational attainment runs 17.1% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 58.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 4 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
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. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $936 monthly. 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 Theodore'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 schools and households to comparison shortlist to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Theodore, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates; 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 Theodore?
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 91.3%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
The NCES join finds 4 public schools within the city match. 17.1% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Theodore?
Within Alabama, the closest population matches are Springville (4,949 residents, $76,964 income); Winfield (4,982 residents, $71,078 income); Daleville (4,891 residents, $45,522 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Kanab, UT (4,950 residents); Hamilton, MT (4,949 residents); Vinton, IA (4,948 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Theodore?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 19.3%, 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. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
Below median income · poverty 19.3% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
88.8 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Alabama average
D
City profile score · Theodore, AL
42/100
4 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 F
$60,764
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
17.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
19.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Theodore profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 90/100 (A+) · 88.8 index
Household income: 36/100 (F) · $60,764
Bachelor's+ share: 26/100 (F) · 17.1%
Poverty rate: 15/100 (F) · 19.3%
How does Theodore compare to other US cities?
Here's how Theodore stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income36% higher than other cities
Home value27% 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 Theodore 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 Theodore near the bottom of Alabama's cities
Among the 556 Alabama cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Theodore ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Theodore only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#197 of 530
63rd percentile in Alabama
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 556
0th percentile in Alabama
Median Home Value
#230 of 517
56th percentile in Alabama
Poverty Rate
#133 of 556
76th percentile in Alabama
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#243 of 556
56th 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
36th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Theodore's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$151,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 73% 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
Theodore's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,986 of 15,516
More affordable than 74% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,591 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.5×, Theodore sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,986 of 15,516 and #3,591 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
$60,764Theodore, AL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Theodore, 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 Theodore, AL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)17.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)19.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)58.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
4,950
Median Income
$60,764
Median Home Value
$151,800
Median Age
39.6
Poverty Rate
19.3%
Labor force participation
58.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
17.1%
Schools
Total Schools
4
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
91.3%
Carpool
5.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.7%
Work from Home
2.1%
Based on 2,328 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 Theodore. 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 Theodore 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 Theodore sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Theodore 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, NCES CCD, 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.