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
SheetMA-BARRE-MA · Barre, MA 550 pop · income 28th 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 Barre
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Barre on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Rhine · lowest
50,625
Rhine · lowest
50,625 median HH income
41.0% of the leader · rank #1
Barre · this city
55,625
Barre · this city
55,625 median HH income
45.1% of the leader · rank #2
Deering · near
55,625
Deering · near
55,625 median HH income
45.1% of the leader · rank #3
Preston · near
55,625
Preston · near
55,625 median HH income
45.1% of the leader · rank #4
Findlay · near
55,625
Findlay · near
55,625 median HH income
45.1% of the leader · rank #5
New Ross · near
55,625
New Ross · near
55,625 median HH income
45.1% of the leader · rank #6
South Seaville · highest
123,409
South Seaville · highest
123,409 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 Barre 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: 550.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Barre - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Barre lands in the 28th percentile for household income and the 74th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
28th
percentile, household income
67th
percentile, home value
98th
percentile, median rent
74th
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: Barre, MA
Barre is a small town in Massachusetts, home to 550 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Barre report a median income of $55,625 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 0.0%. Home values in Barre run a median of $313,100, and the median resident age is 52.0 years. Educational attainment runs 55.8% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 67.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Barre reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 761.7 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).
Massachusetts carries a cost-of-living premium: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Massachusetts at 105.8 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Above Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $2,261 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Massachusetts run around $330, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 78.8 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Barre'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 comparison shortlist to reported crime 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 Barre, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, annual population history; 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 Barre?
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 3 public schools within the city match. 55.8% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Barre?
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 Massachusetts, the closest population matches are Seabrook (545 residents); Russell (568 residents, $103,456 income); Cheshire (584 residents). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are La Paz Valley, AZ (550 residents); Olney Springs, CO (550 residents); Rhine, GA (550 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 can the FBI record say about safety in Barre?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 761.7 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 67% 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Barre?
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 5.6 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 0.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Barre?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 35.1%. 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
35.1%
Work from home
3.5%
Public transit
15.1%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 370 workers age 16+.
Below median income · poverty 0.0% (Very low poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
105.8 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, Massachusetts average
C-
City profile score · Barre, MA
50/100
5 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 A+
0.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share A
55.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime F
319 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income F
$55,625
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Cost of living F
105.8 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Barre profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 100/100 (A+) · 0.0%
Bachelor's+ share: 89/100 (A) · 55.8%
Violent crime: 30/100 (F) · 319 /100k
Household income: 28/100 (F) · $55,625
Cost of living: 18/100 (F) · 105.8 index
Where Barre sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Barre'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 - Barre highlighted among 22 peers.Read the chart values
Barre, MA (this city): home $313,100, crime 762/100k
Russell, MA : home $280,000, crime 423/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Barre compare to other US cities?
Here's how Barre stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income28% higher than other cities
Home value67% pricier than other cities
Median rent98% pricier than other cities
Safety74% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Massachusetts and the picture shifts: Barre ranks #61 of 149 Massachusetts cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Barre against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Massachusetts only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Massachusetts-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Barre near the bottom of Massachusetts's cities
Among the 247 Massachusetts cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Barre ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Barre only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#222 of 233
5th percentile in Massachusetts
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 247
0th percentile in Massachusetts
Median Home Value
#202 of 240
15th percentile in Massachusetts
Poverty Rate
#208 of 247
0th percentile in Massachusetts
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#71 of 247
71st percentile in Massachusetts
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 Massachusetts only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
28th percentile nationally for median household income · 74th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Barre's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Barre'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 Barre's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$313,10033rd percentilemore affordable than 33% 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
Barre's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.6×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,733 of 15,516
More affordable than 11% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,245 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 5.6×, Barre sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,733 of 15,516 and #10,245 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
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
$55,625Barre, MA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Barre, MA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Barre, MA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)55.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)67.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
550
Median Income
$55,625
Median Home Value
$313,100
Median Age
52.0
Poverty Rate
0.0%
Labor force participation
67.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
55.8%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
761.7
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
318.9
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
442.9
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.
Schools
Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
35.1%
Carpool
36.5%
Public Transit
15.1%
Walk
9.7%
Work from Home
3.5%
Based on 370 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Massachusetts statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $330
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Massachusetts at $330 (electricity about $160 , water and sewer about $60 ).
These are Massachusetts statewide averages, not a meter reading for Barre. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Massachusetts's BEA cost-of-living index is 105.8 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Barre is $2,261/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Massachusetts statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 78.8 / 100 (High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Massachusetts statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Barre sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Barre compares to similar-size Massachusetts 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, 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.