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Place dossier plate
SheetCA-BENTON-CA · Benton, CA 368 pop · income 43rd 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 Benton
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Benton on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Vina · lowest
40,469
Vina · lowest
40,469 median HH income
18.4% of the leader · rank #1
Lely · near
65,029
Lely · near
65,029 median HH income
29.5% of the leader · rank #2
Oneonta · near
65,031
Oneonta · near
65,031 median HH income
29.5% of the leader · rank #3
Benton · this city
65,035
Benton · this city
65,035 median HH income
29.5% of the leader · rank #4
North Boston · near
65,037
North Boston · near
65,037 median HH income
29.5% of the leader · rank #5
Oakwood villa… · near
65,038
Oakwood villa… · near
65,038 median HH income
29.5% of the leader · rank #6
Echo Hills · highest
220,306
Echo Hills · highest
220,306 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 Benton 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: 368.
Nationally, Benton sits in the 43rd percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
43rd
percentile, household income
61st
percentile, home value
88th
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: Benton, CA
California's Benton is a small town, with 368 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $65,035 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 9.7%. Benton's housing stock carries a median value of $277,500, and the median resident age is 49.4 years. About 17.2% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 39.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 1 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
California carries a cost-of-living premium: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts California at 110.7 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Above Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $2,053 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $275 across California, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Natural-hazard exposure scores 88.7 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Very High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Benton'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 schools and households to housing and income to comparison shortlist to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Benton, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Benton?
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.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 17.2% 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Benton?
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. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 9.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Benton?
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 California, the closest population matches are Friant (367 residents, $51,765 income); Stinson Beach (366 residents, $117,000 income); Zayante (366 residents, $164,234 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Vina, AL (368 residents); Echo Hills, CO (368 residents); Romeo, CO (368 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 Benton?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 83.3%. 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. 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.
Below median income · poverty 9.7% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
110.7 (US=100)
Highest-decile cost · BEA RPP 2024, California average
F
City profile score · Benton, CA
30/100
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.
Household income D
$65,035
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate D
9.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
17.2%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living F
110.7 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Benton profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 42/100 (D) · $65,035
Poverty rate: 41/100 (D) · 9.7%
Bachelor's+ share: 26/100 (F) · 17.2%
Cost of living: 6/100 (F) · 110.7 index
How does Benton compare to other US cities?
Where Benton sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income43% higher than other cities
Home value61% pricier than other cities
Median rent88% 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 Benton against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to California only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
California-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Benton near the bottom of California's cities
Among the 1,458 California cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Benton ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Benton only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#985 of 1,338
26th percentile in California
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,458
0th percentile in California
Median Home Value
#1,108 of 1,343
17th percentile in California
Poverty Rate
#512 of 1,450
65th percentile in California
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#978 of 1,458
33rd percentile in California
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 California only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
43rd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Benton's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$277,50039th percentilemore affordable than 39% 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
Benton's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#11,439 of 15,516
More affordable than 26% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#8,835 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.3×, Benton sits in the moderate band:
national rank #11,439 of 15,516 and #8,835 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
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
$65,035Benton, CA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Benton, CA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Benton, CA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)17.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)9.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)39.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
368
Median Income
$65,035
Median Home Value
$277,500
Median Age
49.4
Poverty Rate
9.7%
Labor force participation
39.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
17.2%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
83.3%
Carpool
2.4%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
10.3%
Work from Home
4.0%
Based on 126 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
California statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $275
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across California at $275 (electricity about $150 , water and sewer about $70 ).
These are California statewide averages, not a meter reading for Benton. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
California's BEA cost-of-living index is 110.7 (Well Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Benton is $2,053/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to California statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 88.7 / 100 (Very High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a California statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Benton sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Benton compares to similar-size California 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.