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Place dossier plate
SheetAL-VALLEY-HEAD-AL · Valley Head, AL 825 pop · income 12th 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 Valley Head
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Valley Head on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Meigs · lowest
28,125
Meigs · lowest
28,125 median HH income
34.4% of the leader · rank #1
Valley Head · this city
44,396
Valley Head · this city
44,396 median HH income
54.3% of the leader · rank #2
Sautee-Nacooc… · near
44,396
Sautee-Nacooc… · near
44,396 median HH income
54.3% of the leader · rank #3
Tok · near
44,405
Tok · near
44,405 median HH income
54.3% of the leader · rank #4
Freedom Plains · near
44,405
Freedom Plains · near
44,405 median HH income
54.3% of the leader · rank #5
Odin · near
44,415
Odin · near
44,415 median HH income
54.3% of the leader · rank #6
Sand Rock · highest
81,750
Sand Rock · highest
81,750 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 Valley Head 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: 825.
Nationally, Valley Head sits in the 12th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
12th
percentile, household income
1st
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: Valley Head, AL
825 people live in Valley Head, Alabama - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $44,396 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 4.0%. Valley Head's housing stock carries a median value of $59,800, and the median resident age is 35.5 years. About 12.1% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 49.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 0 residential building permits were authorized in Valley Head (No Permits), down 100% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. NOAA puts Valley Head's yearly average temperature at 58.8°F with 56.2 inches of precipitation per year.
Living costs in Alabama run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Alabama scores 88.8 (Well Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $936 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $245 across Alabama, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. 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 Valley Head'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 climate and hazard context to schools and households to population change to housing and income to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Valley Head, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares, local building permits, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Valley Head?
Within Alabama, the closest population matches are Lynn (821 residents, $41,811 income); Mignon (820 residents, $33,217 income); Holly Pond (816 residents, $45,221 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Funston, GA (825 residents); Meigs, GA (825 residents); Keystone, IA (825 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.
What physical conditions frame life in Valley Head?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 58.8°F, with 56.2 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.
What does the education layer cover for Valley Head?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 12.1% 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 matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
Is Valley Head 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 +19 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +3.3% 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.
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.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Valley Head?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.0%, 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.
Household income
$44,396
Home value
$59,800
Value / income
1.3×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What does the journey to work look like in Valley Head?
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 63.7%. 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
63.7%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 281 workers age 16+.
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 B
4.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$44,396
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
12.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Valley Head profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 90/100 (A+) · 88.8 index
Poverty rate: 72/100 (B) · 4.0%
Household income: 13/100 (F) · $44,396
Bachelor's+ share: 12/100 (F) · 12.1%
How does Valley Head compare to other US cities?
Here's how Valley Head stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income12% higher than other cities
Home value1% 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 Valley Head 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 Valley Head near the bottom of Alabama's cities
Among the 556 Alabama cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Valley Head ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Valley Head only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#356 of 530
33rd percentile in Alabama
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 556
0th percentile in Alabama
Median Home Value
#493 of 517
5th percentile in Alabama
Poverty Rate
#445 of 556
19th percentile in Alabama
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#359 of 556
35th 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
12th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Valley Head's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$59,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 99% 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
Valley Head's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#214 of 15,516
More affordable than 99% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#210 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.3×, Valley Head sits in the affordable band:
national rank #214 of 15,516 and #210 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
$44,396Valley Head, AL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Valley Head, 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 Valley Head, AL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)12.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)49.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
825
Median Income
$44,396
Median Home Value
$59,800
Median Age
35.5
Poverty Rate
4.0%
Labor force participation
49.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
12.1%
Climate
Avg Temperature
58.8°F
Annual Precipitation
56.2"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Valley Head's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
578 residents
2021
581 residents
2022
581 residents
2023
587 residents
2024
593 residents
2025
597 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
1
1
0
$0.1M
2020
1
1
0
$0.5M
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
1
1
0
$0.1M
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Permit volume decreased 100% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
63.7%
Carpool
34.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.4%
Work from Home
0.0%
Other
0.7%
Based on 281 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 Valley Head. 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 Valley Head 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 Valley Head sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Valley Head 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, 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.