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Place dossier plate
SheetAZ-SECOND-MESA-AZ · Second Mesa, AZ 1,206 pop · income 10th 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 Second Mesa
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Second Mesa on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Dilkon · lowest
38,452
Dilkon · lowest
38,452 median HH income
20.5% of the leader · rank #1
Second Mesa · this city
42,778
Second Mesa · this city
42,778 median HH income
22.8% of the leader · rank #2
Danville · near
42,778
Danville · near
42,778 median HH income
22.8% of the leader · rank #3
Jeffersonville · near
42,788
Jeffersonville · near
42,788 median HH income
22.8% of the leader · rank #4
Cherry Creek · near
42,788
Cherry Creek · near
42,788 median HH income
22.8% of the leader · rank #5
Pontiac · near
42,791
Pontiac · near
42,791 median HH income
22.8% of the leader · rank #6
Galesville · highest
187,656
Galesville · highest
187,656 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 Second Mesa 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: 1,206.
Nationally, Second Mesa sits in the 10th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
10th
percentile, household income
3rd
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: Second Mesa, AZ
Second Mesa is a small town in Arizona, home to 1,206 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Second Mesa brings in $42,778 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 36.7%. Second Mesa's housing stock carries a median value of $77,200, and the median resident age is 26.6 years. Educational attainment runs 4.4% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 40.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Arizona tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: the state registers 100.7 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Near Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,419 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Arizona's average monthly utility costs around $215 (state average). Natural-hazard exposure scores 84.5 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Second Mesa'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 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 Second Mesa, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Second Mesa?
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 Peach Springs (1,196 residents, $49,286 income); Mesa del Caballo (1,188 residents, $55,833 income); Pinon (1,183 residents, $42,847 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Sweet Home, AR (1,206 residents); Galesville, MD (1,206 residents); Champlain, NY (1,206 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Second Mesa?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 36.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
What does the journey to work look like in Second Mesa?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 60.5%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Low income · poverty 36.7% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
100.7 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Arizona average
F
City profile score · Second Mesa, AZ
13/100
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 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
$42,778
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
36.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
4.4%
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).
Second Mesa profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 37/100 (F) · 100.7 index
Household income: 11/100 (F) · $42,778
Poverty rate: 0/100 (F) · 36.7%
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 4.4%
How does Second Mesa compare to other US cities?
Here's how Second Mesa stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income10% higher than other cities
Home value3% 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 Second Mesa 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 Second Mesa near the bottom of Arizona's cities
Among the 394 Arizona cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Second Mesa ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Second Mesa only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#256 of 333
23rd percentile in Arizona
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 394
0th percentile in Arizona
Median Home Value
#271 of 327
17th percentile in Arizona
Poverty Rate
#54 of 393
86th percentile in Arizona
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#327 of 394
16th 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
10th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Second Mesa's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$77,200Among 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
Second Mesa's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#1,016 of 15,516
More affordable than 93% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#984 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.8×, Second Mesa sits in the affordable band:
national rank #1,016 of 15,516 and #984 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
$42,778Second Mesa, AZ median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Second Mesa, 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 Second Mesa, AZ.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)4.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)36.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)40.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,206
Median Income
$42,778
Median Home Value
$77,200
Median Age
26.6
Poverty Rate
36.7%
Labor force participation
40.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
4.4%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
60.5%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
5.6%
Work from Home
33.9%
Based on 342 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 Second Mesa. 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 Second Mesa 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 Second Mesa sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Second Mesa 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, 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.