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Place dossier plate
SheetAL-UNION-SPRINGS-AL · Union Springs, AL 3,287 pop · income 2nd pct · 4 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 Union Springs
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Union Springs on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Livingston · lowest
24,491
Livingston · lowest
24,491 median HH income
23.0% of the leader · rank #1
Punta Santiag… · near
25,827
Punta Santiag… · near
25,827 median HH income
24.2% of the leader · rank #2
Union Springs · this city
25,828
Union Springs · this city
25,828 median HH income
24.2% of the leader · rank #3
Reed · near
25,833
Reed · near
25,833 median HH income
24.2% of the leader · rank #4
Junction City · near
25,833
Junction City · near
25,833 median HH income
24.2% of the leader · rank #5
Old Hundred · near
25,855
Old Hundred · near
25,855 median HH income
24.2% of the leader · rank #6
Port Monmouth · highest
106,677
Port Monmouth · highest
106,677 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 Union Springs 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: 3,287.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Union Springs - the verdict
Nationally, Union Springs sits in the 2nd percentile for household income and the 29th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
2nd
percentile, household income
3rd
percentile, home value
1st
percentile, median rent
29th
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: Union Springs, AL
3,287 people live in Union Springs, Alabama - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $25,828 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 41.9%. Union Springs's housing stock carries a median value of $77,300, and the median resident age is 31.4 years. Educational attainment runs 14.8% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 54.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 0 residential building permits were authorized in Union Springs (No Permits), per Census BPS data. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 2163.4 incidents per 100,000 residents, near the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 63.4°F with 57.2 inches of precipitation per year and 0.6 inches of snowfall.
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. 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 Union Springs'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 population change to comparison shortlist to reported crime to work and mobility to housing and income to climate and hazard context 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 Union Springs, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, local building permits, annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Population change
Is Union Springs growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -243 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -7.3% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Which cities make useful reference points for Union Springs?
Within Alabama, the closest population matches are Hanceville (3,255 residents, $39,894 income); Weaver (3,323 residents, $74,458 income); East Brewton (3,325 residents, $43,070 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Paris, AR (3,287 residents); Ridgecrest, FL (3,288 residents); State Line, PA (3,288 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.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Union Springs?
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 2163.4 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, near the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 5% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
What can 4 Census tracts reveal inside Union Springs?
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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Union Springs?
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 92.9%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.0%
Work from home
0.0%
Drive alone
92.9%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,248 workers age 16+.
How far does income reach against housing in Union Springs?
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 41.9%, 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
$25,828
Home value
$77,300
Value / income
3.0×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What physical conditions frame life in Union Springs?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 63.4°F, with 57.2 inches of precipitation and 0.6 inches of annual snowfall. 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.
Mean temperature
63.4°F
Annual precipitation
57.2 in
FEMA risk index (state avg)
61.5
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
What does the education layer cover for Union Springs?
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 14.8% 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
3
Bachelor's degree+
14.8%
Poverty estimate
41.9%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 41.9% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
88.8 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Alabama average
F
City profile score · Union Springs, AL
21/100
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.
Bachelor's+ share F
14.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$25,828
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
41.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
872 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Union Springs profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 90/100 (A+) · 88.8 index
Bachelor's+ share: 20/100 (F) · 14.8%
Household income: 0/100 (F) · $25,828
Poverty rate: 0/100 (F) · 41.9%
Violent crime: 0/100 (F) · 872 /100k
Where Union Springs sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Union Springs'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 - Union Springs highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
Union Springs, AL (this city): home $77,300, crime 2,163/100k
Paris, AR : home $112,700, crime 2,838/100k
Hanceville, AL : home $164,500, crime 1,517/100k
Weaver, AL : home $140,500, crime 2,014/100k
East Brewton, AL : home $87,300, crime 2,724/100k
Livingston, AL : home $163,300, crime 2,035/100k
Red Bay, AL : home $105,500, crime 1,547/100k
Warrior, AL : home $152,100, crime 2,455/100k
How does Union Springs compare to other US cities?
Here's how Union Springs stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income2% higher than other cities
Home value3% pricier than other cities
Median rent1% pricier than other cities
Safety29% 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, Union Springs ranks #129 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 Union Springs 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 Union Springs near the bottom of Alabama's cities
Among the 556 Alabama cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Union Springs ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Union Springs only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#513 of 530
3rd percentile in Alabama
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 556
0th percentile in Alabama
Median Home Value
#468 of 517
9th percentile in Alabama
Poverty Rate
#12 of 556
98th percentile in Alabama
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#292 of 556
47th 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
2nd percentile nationally for median household income · 29th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Union Springs's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Union Springs'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 Union Springs's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$77,300Among the most affordablemore affordable than 97% 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
Union Springs's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#6,643 of 15,516
More affordable than 57% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#5,631 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.0×, Union Springs sits in the affordable band:
national rank #6,643 of 15,516 and #5,631 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
$25,828Union Springs, AL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Union Springs, 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 Union Springs, AL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)14.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)41.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)54.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
3,287
Median Income
$25,828
Median Home Value
$77,300
Median Age
31.4
Poverty Rate
41.9%
Labor force participation
54.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
14.8%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2163.4
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
871.8
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1291.6
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
63.4°F
Annual Precipitation
57.2"
Annual Snowfall
0.6"
Schools
Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Union Springs's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
3,334 residents
2021
3,313 residents
2022
3,272 residents
2023
3,183 residents
2024
3,145 residents
2025
3,091 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
92.9%
Carpool
5.8%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
0.0%
Other
1.3%
Based on 1,248 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 Union Springs. 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 Union Springs 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 Union Springs sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Union Springs 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.