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.
Place dossier plate
SheetAZ-BENSON-AZ · Benson, AZ 5,331 pop · income 18th 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 Benson
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Benson on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Roanoke · lowest
48,083
Roanoke · lowest
48,083 median HH income
21.6% of the leader · rank #1
Three Rivers · near
48,852
Three Rivers · near
48,852 median HH income
22.0% of the leader · rank #2
Benson · this city
48,854
Benson · this city
48,854 median HH income
22.0% of the leader · rank #3
Sedan · near
48,854
Sedan · near
48,854 median HH income
22.0% of the leader · rank #4
Vale · near
48,854
Vale · near
48,854 median HH income
22.0% of the leader · rank #5
Vernon · near
48,855
Vernon · near
48,855 median HH income
22.0% of the leader · rank #6
Englewood Cli… · highest
222,192
Englewood Cli… · highest
222,192 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 Benson 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: 5,331.
Benson ranks in the 18th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
18th
percentile, household income
26th
percentile, home value
64th
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: Benson, AZ
Benson is a small town in Arizona, home to 5,331 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Benson households earn a median of $48,854 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 8.0%. Typical homes in Benson are valued around $145,700, and the median resident age is 53.5 years. 24.7% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 42.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 114 residential building permits were authorized in Benson (Building Boom), up 1800% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 63.3°F with 11.8 inches of precipitation per year and 0.2 inches of snowfall.
Arizona tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Arizona at 100.7 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Near Average). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,419 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Arizona run around $215, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Commute times here average 23.5 minutes, with 64.5% driving alone and 14.0% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 84.5 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Benson'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 housing and income to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to schools and households to population change to climate and hazard context; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Benson, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, annual population history, commute-mode shares, local building permits.
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.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Benson?
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.
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 8.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Benson?
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.
Within Arizona, the closest population matches are Thatcher (5,354 residents, $77,455 income); Guadalupe (5,293 residents, $58,507 income); Citrus Park (5,136 residents, $136,653 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Posen, IL (5,331 residents); Roanoke, AL (5,332 residents); Keyes, CA (5,330 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Benson?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 64.5%. The reported mean trip to work is 23.5 minutes.
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.
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.
The NCES join finds 6 public schools within the city match. 24.7% 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.
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.
Population change
Is Benson growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +121 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 114 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
2020 estimate
5,411
2025 estimate
5,532
Period change
+2.2%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
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.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 63.3°F, with 11.8 inches of precipitation and 0.2 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Arizona is 84.5 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.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
84.5
Annual precipitation
11.8 in
Mean temperature
63.3°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Arizona average
F
City profile score · Benson, AZ
36/100
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.
Poverty rate D
8.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share D
24.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living F
100.7 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
$48,854
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Benson profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 48/100 (D) · 8.0%
Bachelor's+ share: 48/100 (D) · 24.7%
Cost of living: 37/100 (F) · 100.7 index
Household income: 19/100 (F) · $48,854
How does Benson compare to other US cities?
Benson measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income18% higher than other cities
Home value26% pricier than other cities
Median rent64% 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 Benson against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Arizona only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Arizona-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Benson near the bottom of Arizona's cities
Among the 394 Arizona cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Benson ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Benson only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#221 of 333
34th percentile in Arizona
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 394
0th percentile in Arizona
Median Home Value
#209 of 327
36th percentile in Arizona
Poverty Rate
#209 of 393
46th percentile in Arizona
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#108 of 394
73rd percentile in Arizona
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 Arizona only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
18th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Benson's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$145,700Among the most affordablemore affordable than 74% 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
Benson's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#6,600 of 15,516
More affordable than 57% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#5,602 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.0×, Benson sits in the affordable band:
national rank #6,600 of 15,516 and #5,602 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
$48,854Benson, AZ median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Benson, AZ median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Benson, AZ.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)24.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)8.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)42.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
5,331
Median Income
$48,854
Median Home Value
$145,700
Median Age
53.5
Poverty Rate
8.0%
Labor force participation
42.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
24.7%
Climate
Avg Temperature
63.3°F
Annual Precipitation
11.8"
Annual Snowfall
0.2"
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
Benson's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
5,411 residents
2021
5,421 residents
2022
5,402 residents
2023
5,387 residents
2024
5,472 residents
2025
5,532 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
114
housing units authorized
Single-Family
108
detached homes
Multifamily
6
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
21.4
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
6
6
0
$1.7M
2020
8
4
4
$1.5M
2021
25
13
12
$5.7M
2022
116
103
13
$29.0M
2023
53
53
0
$11.2M
2024
114
108
6
$14.5M
Permit volume increased 1800% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
23.5 minutes
Drive Alone
64.5%
Carpool
14.8%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
2.9%
Work from Home
14.0%
Other
3.8%
Based on 1,830 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Arizona statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $215
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Arizona at $215 (electricity about $131 , water and sewer about $50 ).
These are Arizona statewide averages, not a meter reading for Benson. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Arizona's BEA cost-of-living index is 100.7 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Benson is $1,419/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Arizona statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 84.5 / 100 (High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Arizona statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Benson sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Benson compares to similar-size Arizona 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.