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Place dossier plate
SheetMD-DENTON-MD · Denton, MD 4,879 pop · income 41st 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 Denton
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Denton on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Zapata · lowest
37,653
Zapata · lowest
37,653 median HH income
20.2% of the leader · rank #1
Ulysses · near
63,765
Ulysses · near
63,765 median HH income
34.2% of the leader · rank #2
Denton · this city
63,769
Denton · this city
63,769 median HH income
34.2% of the leader · rank #3
Piqua · near
63,770
Piqua · near
63,770 median HH income
34.2% of the leader · rank #4
Lebanon · near
63,773
Lebanon · near
63,773 median HH income
34.2% of the leader · rank #5
Easton · near
63,775
Easton · near
63,775 median HH income
34.2% of the leader · rank #6
Woodmore · highest
186,713
Woodmore · highest
186,713 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 Denton 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: 4,879.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Denton - the verdict
Denton ranks in the 41st percentile for household income and the 12th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
41st
percentile, household income
52nd
percentile, home value
84th
percentile, median rent
12th
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: Denton, MD
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 4,879 residents in Denton, a small town within Maryland. Denton households earn a median of $63,769 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 10.8%. Home values in Denton run a median of $234,700, and the median resident age is 38.3 years. About 14.8% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 53.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 3 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 82% from five years earlier. Denton's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 3383.1 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, above the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Maryland carries a cost-of-living premium: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Maryland scores 105.0 (Above Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,657 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $255 across Maryland, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Natural-hazard exposure scores 60.2 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Denton'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 work and mobility to population change to comparison shortlist to schools and households to reported crime to within-city variation to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Denton, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Denton?
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 78.2%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +230 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +4.7% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Denton?
Within Maryland, the closest population matches are Hillandale (4,901 residents, $159,118 income); Riva (4,798 residents, $156,389 income); Kingsville (4,790 residents, $130,987 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Carmi, IL (4,879 residents); Farmington, ME (4,879 residents); Zapata, TX (4,879 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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Denton?
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 14.8% 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.
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.
Matched public schools
2
Bachelor's degree+
14.8%
Poverty estimate
10.8%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Denton?
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.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 3383.1 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 48% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
3024.9
Violent rate
358.2
Total reported rate
3383.1
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
How far does income reach against housing in Denton?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 10.8%, 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. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
Household income
$63,769
Home value
$234,700
Value / income
3.7×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Below median income · poverty 10.8% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
105.0 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, Maryland average
F
City profile score · Denton, MD
30/100
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.
Household income D
$63,769
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
10.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
358 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Cost of living F
105.0 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
14.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Denton profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 40/100 (D) · $63,769
Poverty rate: 37/100 (F) · 10.8%
Violent crime: 25/100 (F) · 358 /100k
Cost of living: 21/100 (F) · 105.0 index
Bachelor's+ share: 20/100 (F) · 14.8%
Where Denton sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Denton'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 - Denton highlighted among 25 peers.Read the chart values
Denton, MD (this city): home $234,700, crime 3,383/100k
Carmi, IL : home $98,700, crime 1,574/100k
Farmington, ME : home $161,800, crime 1,536/100k
New Castle, CO : home $488,600, crime 804/100k
Centreville, MD : home $430,900, crime 1,052/100k
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 Denton compare to other US cities?
Here's how Denton stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income41% higher than other cities
Home value52% pricier than other cities
Median rent84% pricier than other cities
Safety12% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to Maryland alone, Denton ranks #51 of 70 Maryland cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Denton against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Maryland only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Maryland-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Denton near the bottom of Maryland's cities
Among the 479 Maryland cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Denton ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Denton only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#373 of 445
16th percentile in Maryland
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 479
0th percentile in Maryland
Median Home Value
#363 of 450
19th percentile in Maryland
Poverty Rate
#88 of 479
81st percentile in Maryland
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#404 of 479
16th percentile in Maryland
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 Maryland only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
41st percentile nationally for median household income · 12th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Denton's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Denton'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 Denton's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$234,70048th percentilemore affordable than 48% 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
Denton's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,651 of 15,516
More affordable than 38% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,688 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.7×, Denton sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,651 of 15,516 and #7,688 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
$63,769Denton, MD median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Denton, MD median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Denton, MD.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)14.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)10.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)53.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
4,879
Median Income
$63,769
Median Home Value
$234,700
Median Age
38.3
Poverty Rate
10.8%
Labor force participation
53.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
14.8%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
3383.1
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
358.2
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
3024.9
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
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Denton's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
4,845 residents
2021
4,891 residents
2022
4,940 residents
2023
5,011 residents
2024
5,037 residents
2025
5,075 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
0.6
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
17
17
0
$2.0M
2020
20
20
0
$2.4M
2021
30
30
0
$4.0M
2022
23
15
8
$3.1M
2023
4
0
4
$0.2M
2024
3
3
0
$0.5M
Permit volume decreased 82% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
78.2%
Carpool
8.4%
Public Transit
0.2%
Walk
2.7%
Work from Home
6.8%
Other
3.7%
Based on 2,094 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Maryland statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $255
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Maryland at $255 (electricity about $120 , water and sewer about $55 ).
These are Maryland statewide averages, not a meter reading for Denton. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Maryland's BEA cost-of-living index is 105.0 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Denton is $1,657/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Maryland statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 60.2 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Maryland statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Denton sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Denton compares to similar-size Maryland 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 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.