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
SheetLA-BRANCH-LA · Branch, LA 338 pop · income 24th 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 Branch
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Branch on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
North Acomita · lowest
43,000
North Acomita · lowest
43,000 median HH income
23.6% of the leader · rank #1
Waupaca · near
52,586
Waupaca · near
52,586 median HH income
28.8% of the leader · rank #2
Kenton · near
52,589
Kenton · near
52,589 median HH income
28.8% of the leader · rank #3
Rocky Point · near
52,591
Rocky Point · near
52,591 median HH income
28.8% of the leader · rank #4
Branch · this city
52,593
Branch · this city
52,593 median HH income
28.8% of the leader · rank #5
Beacon Square · near
52,598
Beacon Square · near
52,598 median HH income
28.8% of the leader · rank #6
Hyde Park · highest
182,446
Hyde Park · highest
182,446 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 Branch 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: 338.
Nationally, Branch sits in the 24th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
24th
percentile, household income
0th
percentile, home value
16th
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: Branch, LA
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 338 residents in Branch, a small town within Louisiana. The typical household in Branch brings in $52,593 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 16.8%. Branch's housing stock carries a median value of $38,000, and the median resident age is 26.4 years. About 6.2% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 31.7% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 2 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
Living costs in Louisiana run below the national norm: the state registers 88.2 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Well Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,007 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Louisiana's average monthly utility costs around $212 (state average). Natural-hazard exposure scores 62.4 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Branch'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 Branch, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the education layer cover for Branch?
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 6.2% 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.
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.
How far does income reach against housing in Branch?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 0.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 16.8%, 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Branch?
Within Louisiana, the closest population matches are Good Pine (338 residents); Columbia (337 residents, $50,000 income); Forest (336 residents, $45,625 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Stanfield, AZ (338 residents); Amity, IN (338 residents); Alvarado, MN (338 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 does the journey to work look like in Branch?
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 77.4%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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+
88.2 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Household income F
$52,593
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
16.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
6.2%
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).
Branch profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 92/100 (A+) · 88.2 index
Household income: 24/100 (F) · $52,593
Poverty rate: 19/100 (F) · 16.8%
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 6.2%
How does Branch compare to other US cities?
Branch measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income24% higher than other cities
Home value0% pricier than other cities
Median rent16% 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 Branch against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Louisiana only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Louisiana-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Branch near the bottom of Louisiana's cities
Among the 477 Louisiana cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Branch ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Branch only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#199 of 426
53rd percentile in Louisiana
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 477
0th percentile in Louisiana
Median Home Value
#416 of 419
1st percentile in Louisiana
Poverty Rate
#208 of 475
56th percentile in Louisiana
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#403 of 477
16th percentile in Louisiana
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 Louisiana only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
24th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Branch's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$38,000Among the most affordablemore affordable than 100% 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
Branch's home-value-to-income ratio: 0.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#12 of 15,516
More affordable than 100% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#12 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 0.7×, Branch sits in the affordable band:
national rank #12 of 15,516 and #12 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
$52,593Branch, LA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Branch, LA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Branch, LA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)6.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)16.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)31.7%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
338
Median Income
$52,593
Median Home Value
$38,000
Median Age
26.4
Poverty Rate
16.8%
Labor force participation
31.7%
Bachelor's Degree+
6.2%
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
77.4%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
8.1%
Work from Home
14.5%
Based on 62 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Louisiana statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $212
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Louisiana at $212 (electricity about $130 , water and sewer about $42 ).
These are Louisiana statewide averages, not a meter reading for Branch. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Louisiana's BEA cost-of-living index is 88.2 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Branch is $1,007/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Louisiana statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 62.4 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Louisiana statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Branch sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Branch compares to similar-size Louisiana 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.