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Place dossier plate
SheetMA-SOUTHBRIDGE-MA · Southbridge, MA 17,806 pop · income 34th 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 Southbridge
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Southbridge on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Guayama zona… · lowest
21,010
Guayama zona… · lowest
21,010 median HH income
14.6% of the leader · rank #1
Country Club… · near
59,387
Country Club… · near
59,387 median HH income
41.2% of the leader · rank #2
Miami · near
59,390
Miami · near
59,390 median HH income
41.2% of the leader · rank #3
Southbridge · this city
59,397
Southbridge · this city
59,397 median HH income
41.2% of the leader · rank #4
Marquette · near
59,400
Marquette · near
59,400 median HH income
41.2% of the leader · rank #5
Granite Falls · near
59,402
Granite Falls · near
59,402 median HH income
41.2% of the leader · rank #6
Newburyport · highest
144,259
Newburyport · highest
144,259 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 Southbridge 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: 17,806.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Southbridge - the verdict
Southbridge ranks in the 34th percentile for household income and the 64th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
34th
percentile, household income
59th
percentile, home value
98th
percentile, median rent
64th
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: Southbridge, MA
Southbridge is a small town in Massachusetts, home to 17,806 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Southbridge households earn a median of $59,397 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 10.6%. Home values in Southbridge run a median of $267,000, and the median resident age is 40.6 years. About 17.7% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 58.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 3 residential building permits were authorized in Southbridge (Construction Slowdown), down 79% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Southbridge reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 1001.1 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 48.2°F with 51.9 inches of precipitation per year and 52.4 inches of snowfall.
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). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $2,261 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Massachusetts run around $330, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 78.8 out of 100 (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Southbridge'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 reported crime to climate and hazard context to work and mobility to housing and income to population change to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Southbridge, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, annual population history, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Southbridge?
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 Greenfield (17,662 residents, $53,961 income); Somerset (18,246 residents, $111,720 income); Amesbury (17,277 residents, $100,599 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Villa Rica, GA (17,798 residents); Tiffin, OH (17,814 residents); Alice, TX (17,797 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 Southbridge?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1001.1 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 56% 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.
What physical conditions frame life in Southbridge?
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 48.2°F, with 51.9 inches of precipitation and 52.4 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Massachusetts is 78.8 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Southbridge?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 75.3%. 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.
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.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Southbridge?
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 4.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 10.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
4.5×
Home value
$267,000
Household income
$59,397
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Is Southbridge growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +404 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.3% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 3 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
17,701
2025 estimate
18,105
Period change
+2.3%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What does the education layer cover for Southbridge?
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. 17.7% 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.
Poverty estimate
10.6%
Bachelor's degree+
17.7%
Matched public schools
6
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Below median income · poverty 10.6% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
105.8 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, Massachusetts average
F
City profile score · Southbridge, MA
29/100
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 F
10.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$59,397
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
17.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime F
367 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
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.
Southbridge profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 37/100 (F) · 10.6%
Household income: 34/100 (F) · $59,397
Bachelor's+ share: 28/100 (F) · 17.7%
Violent crime: 24/100 (F) · 367 /100k
Cost of living: 18/100 (F) · 105.8 index
Where Southbridge sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Southbridge'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 - Southbridge highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
Southbridge, MA (this city): home $267,000, crime 1,001/100k
Alice, TX : home $107,700, crime 3,757/100k
Bay City, TX : home $149,800, crime 3,424/100k
Greenfield, MA : home $252,000, crime 2,698/100k
Somerset, MA : home $389,400, crime 718/100k
Amesbury, MA : home $475,400, crime 670/100k
Newburyport, MA : home $792,400, crime 442/100k
Abington, MA : home $516,300, crime 1,593/100k
Winthrop, MA : home $606,900, crime 681/100k
How does Southbridge compare to other US cities?
Southbridge measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income34% higher than other cities
Home value59% pricier than other cities
Median rent98% pricier than other cities
Safety64% 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 Massachusetts, Southbridge ranks #83 of 149 Massachusetts 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 Southbridge 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 Southbridge near the bottom of Massachusetts's cities
Among the 247 Massachusetts cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Southbridge ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Southbridge only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#210 of 233
10th percentile in Massachusetts
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 247
0th percentile in Massachusetts
Median Home Value
#221 of 240
8th percentile in Massachusetts
Poverty Rate
#37 of 247
85th percentile in Massachusetts
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#235 of 247
5th 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
34th percentile nationally for median household income · 64th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Southbridge's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Southbridge'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 Southbridge's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$267,00041st percentilemore affordable than 41% 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
Southbridge's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#11,962 of 15,516
More affordable than 23% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,335 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 4.5×, Southbridge sits in the moderate band:
national rank #11,962 of 15,516 and #2,335 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
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
$59,397Southbridge, MA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Southbridge, 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 Southbridge, MA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)17.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)10.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)58.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
17,806
Median Income
$59,397
Median Home Value
$267,000
Median Age
40.6
Poverty Rate
10.6%
Labor force participation
58.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
17.7%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1001.1
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
366.5
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
634.6
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
48.2°F
Annual Precipitation
51.9"
Annual Snowfall
52.4"
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
Southbridge's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
17,701 residents
2021
17,844 residents
2022
17,971 residents
2023
18,027 residents
2024
18,132 residents
2025
18,105 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
3
housing units authorized
Single-Family
3
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.2
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
14
14
0
$2.4M
2020
14
14
0
$2.4M
2021
2
2
0
$0.3M
2022
16
14
2
$2.6M
2023
6
6
0
$2.0M
2024
3
3
0
$0.7M
Permit volume decreased 79% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
75.3%
Carpool
10.7%
Public Transit
0.2%
Walk
5.1%
Work from Home
5.3%
Other
3.4%
Based on 8,279 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 Southbridge. 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 Southbridge 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 Southbridge sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Southbridge 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, 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.