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Place dossier plate
SheetKY-BRANDENBURG-KY · Brandenburg, KY 2,907 pop · income 17th pct · 9 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 Brandenburg
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Brandenburg on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Marion · lowest
40,691
Marion · lowest
40,691 median HH income
21.6% of the leader · rank #1
Brandenburg · this city
48,281
Brandenburg · this city
48,281 median HH income
25.6% of the leader · rank #2
Midvale · near
48,281
Midvale · near
48,281 median HH income
25.6% of the leader · rank #3
Otterville · near
48,281
Otterville · near
48,281 median HH income
25.6% of the leader · rank #4
Orchard · near
48,281
Orchard · near
48,281 median HH income
25.6% of the leader · rank #5
Romulus · near
48,281
Romulus · near
48,281 median HH income
25.6% of the leader · rank #6
Indian Hills · highest
188,750
Indian Hills · highest
188,750 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, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Brandenburg 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: 2,907.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Brandenburg - the verdict
Nationally, Brandenburg sits in the 17th percentile for household income and the 79th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
17th
percentile, household income
45th
percentile, home value
10th
percentile, median rent
79th
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: Brandenburg, KY
2,907 people live in Brandenburg, Kentucky - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Brandenburg households earn a median of $48,281 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 17.8%. Brandenburg's housing stock carries a median value of $208,100, and the median resident age is 41.4 years. About 15.9% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 52.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 17 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Building Boom), up 55% from five years earlier. Brandenburg reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 641.5 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 55.2°F with 53.3 inches of precipitation per year.
Living costs in Kentucky run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Kentucky scores 90.2 (Well Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $984 per month statewide. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Kentucky run around $225, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 44.2 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Brandenburg'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 schools and households to housing and income to reported crime to work and mobility to population change to climate and hazard context to within-city variation; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Brandenburg, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Brandenburg?
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.
Within Kentucky, the closest population matches are Marion (2,908 residents, $40,691 income); Sorgho (2,928 residents, $118,688 income); Springfield (2,871 residents, $40,890 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Lake Shastina, CA (2,908 residents); Amesti, CA (2,905 residents); Troy, NC (2,905 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 education layer cover for Brandenburg?
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. 15.9% 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 Brandenburg?
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 17.8%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
What can 9 Census tracts reveal inside Brandenburg?
PlainCities matches 9 Census tracts to this city.
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.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Brandenburg?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 641.5 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 72% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
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.
Total reported rate
641.5
Violent rate
33.8
Property rate
607.7
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
What does the journey to work look like in Brandenburg?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 75.6%. 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.
Drive alone
75.6%
Work from home
10.3%
Public transit
0.8%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,239 workers age 16+.
Is Brandenburg growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +105 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +3.6% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 17 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
2,898
2025 estimate
3,003
Period change
+3.6%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What physical conditions frame life in Brandenburg?
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 55.2°F, with 53.3 inches of precipitation. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Kentucky is 44.2 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)
44.2
Annual precipitation
53.3 in
Mean temperature
55.2°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
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.
Violent crime A
34 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Cost of living A
90.2 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
15.9%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$48,281
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
17.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Brandenburg profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 88/100 (A) · 34 /100k
Cost of living: 85/100 (A) · 90.2 index
Bachelor's+ share: 23/100 (F) · 15.9%
Household income: 18/100 (F) · $48,281
Poverty rate: 17/100 (F) · 17.8%
Where Brandenburg sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Brandenburg'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 - Brandenburg highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
Brandenburg, KY (this city): home $208,100, crime 642/100k
Lake Shastina, CA : home $331,900, crime 510/100k
Troy, NC : home $134,500, crime 1,910/100k
Mount Gilead, OH : home $156,200, crime 367/100k
Marion, KY : home $104,100, crime 1,212/100k
Springfield, KY : home $154,800, crime 371/100k
Indian Hills, KY : home $666,200, crime 1,864/100k
Eddyville, KY : home $188,500, crime 40/100k
How does Brandenburg compare to other US cities?
Where Brandenburg sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income17% higher than other cities
Home value45% pricier than other cities
Median rent10% pricier than other cities
Safety79% 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 Kentucky, Brandenburg ranks #74 of 181 Kentucky 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 Brandenburg against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Kentucky only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Kentucky-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Brandenburg near the bottom of Kentucky's cities
Among the 520 Kentucky cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Brandenburg ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Brandenburg only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#304 of 485
37th percentile in Kentucky
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 520
0th percentile in Kentucky
Median Home Value
#137 of 484
72nd percentile in Kentucky
Poverty Rate
#172 of 519
67th percentile in Kentucky
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#294 of 520
43rd percentile in Kentucky
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 Kentucky only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
17th percentile nationally for median household income · 79th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Brandenburg's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Brandenburg'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 Brandenburg's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$208,100Among the most affordablemore affordable than 55% 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
Brandenburg'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
#11,550 of 15,516
More affordable than 26% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#8,900 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.3×, Brandenburg sits in the moderate band:
national rank #11,550 of 15,516 and #8,900 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
$48,281Brandenburg, KY median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Brandenburg, KY median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Brandenburg, KY.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)15.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)17.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)52.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,907
Median Income
$48,281
Median Home Value
$208,100
Median Age
41.4
Poverty Rate
17.8%
Labor force participation
52.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
15.9%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
641.5
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
33.8
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
607.7
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
55.2°F
Annual Precipitation
53.3"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
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
Brandenburg's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,898 residents
2021
2,932 residents
2022
2,939 residents
2023
2,958 residents
2024
2,981 residents
2025
3,003 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
17
housing units authorized
Single-Family
15
detached homes
Multifamily
2
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
5.8
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
11
9
2
$1.8M
2020
28
13
15
$3.4M
2021
24
16
8
$3.2M
2022
20
11
9
$2.9M
2023
12
10
2
$2.9M
2024
17
15
2
$4.3M
Permit volume increased 55% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
75.6%
Carpool
7.0%
Public Transit
0.8%
Walk
5.6%
Work from Home
10.3%
Other
0.7%
Based on 1,239 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Kentucky statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $225
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Kentucky at $225 (electricity about $115 , water and sewer about $40 ).
These are Kentucky statewide averages, not a meter reading for Brandenburg. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Kentucky's BEA cost-of-living index is 90.2 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Brandenburg is $984/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Kentucky statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 44.2 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Kentucky statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Brandenburg sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Brandenburg compares to similar-size Kentucky 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.