City profile · Maryland · Census ACS 2023

St. James, MD

St. James's Census ACS profile: residents, income, housing, and the joined public-record layers available for this place.

4,581
Residents
$103,105
Median income
$390,800
Median home
$1,657
Median rent (state)
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See how it ranks

State rank, size-class rank, and four peer cities for St. James.

Place dossier plate

Sheet MD-ST-JAMES-MD · St. James, MD 4,581 pop · income 79th pct

POP-VILLAGE · INC-HIGH · COL-ABOVE · SAFE-UNK · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · HOME-MID · BOOK-UNK

  • POP-VILLAGE 4,581
  • INC-HIGH $103,105
  • COL-ABOVE 105.0
  • SAFE-UNK Safety pending
  • RANK-UPPER 79th
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Tariffville
  • HOME-MID $390,800
  • BOOK-UNK Tracts pending

Nearest income peer: Tariffville, CT (+ $20 income $)

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 St. James

Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest St. James on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.

median HH income

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.

Source U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 5-Year Estimates As of 2026-08-08

Compare beyond this state

Nationwide peers by population, income

Out-of-state nearest neighbors for St. James 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: 4,581.

4 peers

Similar household income

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS median household income. This city: $103,105. Population peers are excluded.

4 peers

St. James - the verdict

Nationally, St. James sits in the 79th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.

79th
percentile, household income
76th
percentile, home value
84th
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: St. James, MD

4,581 people live in St. James, Maryland - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $103,105 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 1.6%. Home values in St. James run a median of $390,800, and the median resident age is 40.3 years. About 33.7% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 67.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.

Maryland carries a cost-of-living premium: the state registers 105.0 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Above Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,657 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Maryland run around $255, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. 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 St. James'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 housing and income to work and mobility to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.

For St. James, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares. No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, local building permits, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.

Question 1

How far does income reach against housing in St. James?

The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 1.6%, 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.

Compare the housing trade-off →

2. Work and mobility

What does the journey to work look like in St. James?

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 77.6%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.

Compare commute patterns →

Question 3

Which cities make useful reference points for St. James?

Within Maryland, the closest population matches are Chester (4,539 residents, $90,938 income); Seat Pleasant (4,515 residents, $54,076 income); Springdale (4,476 residents, $168,400 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Big Pine Key, FL (4,584 residents); Beavercreek, OR (4,577 residents); Wapato, WA (4,577 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.

Open a side-by-side comparison →

Population

4,581 residents

Micro place (under 10k)

Median Household Income

$103,105 /yr

High income · poverty 1.6% (Low poverty)

Cost of Living Index (state)

105.0 (US=100)

High cost · BEA RPP 2024, Maryland average

City profile score · St. James, MD

64/100

4 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
1.6%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.

Household income B+
$103,105

Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.

Bachelor's+ share C+
33.7%

Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.

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.

Violent crime N/A
N/A

No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).

St. James profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions) 4-axis radar comparing 1 series across Poverty rate, Household income, Bachelor's+ share, Cost of living. Poverty rateHousehold incomeBachelor's+ shareCost of living 64 C+
St. James profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)
Read the chart values
  • Poverty rate: 89/100 (A) · 1.6%
  • Household income: 78/100 (B+) · $103,105
  • Bachelor's+ share: 64/100 (C+) · 33.7%
  • Cost of living: 21/100 (F) · 105.0 index

How does St. James compare to other US cities?

St. James measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.

Household income 79% higher than other cities
Home value 76% pricier than other cities
Median rent 84% 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 St. James 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 St. James near the bottom of Maryland's cities

Among the 479 Maryland cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, St. James ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares St. James only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.

Median Household Income
#214 of 445
52nd percentile in Maryland
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 479
0th percentile in Maryland
Median Home Value
#198 of 450
56th percentile in Maryland
Poverty Rate
#333 of 479
30th percentile in Maryland
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#248 of 479
48th 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.

79thIncome percentile
Gauge source note

79th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.

How St. James's home value compares nationally

Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)

$390,800 24th percentile more affordable than 24% of 15,600 US cities

Show national distribution $0–$25,000: 5 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $25,000–$50,000: 54 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $50,000–$75,000: 352 US cities (2%). Below this entry. $75,000–$100,000: 1,086 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $100,000–$125,000: 1,516 US cities (10%). Below this entry. $125,000–$150,000: 1,170 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $150,000–$175,000: 1,278 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $175,000–$200,000: 1,229 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $200,000–$225,000: 1,035 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $225,000–$250,000: 976 US cities (6%). Below this entry. $250,000–$275,000: 754 US cities (5%). Below this entry. $275,000–$300,000: 712 US cities (5%). Below this entry. $300,000–$325,000: 521 US cities (3%). Below this entry. $325,000–$350,000: 526 US cities (3%). Below this entry. $350,000–$375,000: 465 US cities (3%). Below this entry. $375,000–$400,000: 393 US cities (3%). This entry sits in this band. $400,000–$425,000: 317 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $425,000–$450,000: 300 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $450,000–$475,000: 307 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $475,000–$500,000: 250 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $500,000–$525,000: 160 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $525,000–$550,000: 156 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $550,000–$575,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $575,000–$600,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $600,000–$625,000: 163 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $625,000–$650,000: 167 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $650,000–$675,000: 135 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $675,000–$700,000: 101 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $700,000–$725,000: 95 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $725,000–$750,000: 71 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $750,000–$775,000: 65 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $775,000–$800,000: 70 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $800,000–$825,000: 57 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $825,000–$850,000: 67 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $850,000–$875,000: 60 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $875,000–$900,000: 58 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $900,000–$925,000: 47 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $925,000–$950,000: 37 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $950,000–$975,000: 31 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $975,000–$1,000,000: 470 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $1,000,000–$1,025,000: 0 US cities (0%). Above this entry. St. James $0 $1,025,000 every US city, bucketed by value

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

St. James's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.8×

ACS median home value divided by median household income.

Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#10,026 of 15,516
More affordable than 35% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,927 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)

At 3.8×, St. James sits in the moderate band: national rank #10,026 of 15,516 and #7,927 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

$103,105 St. James, MD median household income (Census ACS)

Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Household income distribution - St. James, MD St. James, MD's median household income ($103,105) against the U.S. national quintile-share pattern. The Lorenz curve and quintile bars are national context, not St. James, MD-specific shares. $ Household Income Distribution St. James, MD median $103,105/yr, vs. U.S. national quintile pattern QUINTILE SHARE OF AGGREGATE INCOME Lowest 20% 3.4% Second 20% 9.2% Middle 20% 15.1% Fourth 20% 23.2% Top 20% 49.1% LORENZ CURVE cumulative income vs. population 100% 0% 100% pop. 0%
St. James, 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 St. James, MD.

Key socioeconomic indicators

Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+) 33.7%

Census ACS S1501, educational attainment

Poverty rate (households below FPL) 1.6%

Census ACS S1701, poverty status

Labor force participation (adults 16+) 67.6%

Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force

Population
4,581
Median Income
$103,105
Median Home Value
$390,800
Median Age
40.3
Poverty Rate
1.6%
Labor force participation
67.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
33.7%

Commute Patterns

Commute source

How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023

Drive Alone
77.6%
Carpool
7.7%
Public Transit
3.9%
Walk
0.3%
Work from Home
10.5%

Based on 2,358 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 St. James. 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 St. James 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 St. James sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.

How St. James 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.

City Population Median Household Income
St. James (this city) 4,581 $103,105
Chester 4,539 $90,938
Seat Pleasant 4,515 $54,076
Springdale 4,476 $168,400
Primary sources on this page

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, 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.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Citation & verification links Data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCities

Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES. Joins use OMB Bulletin 23-01 / FIPS keys.

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Estimate caveats

ACS and UCR figures are citywide estimates with vintage lags; they do not replace a local visit, school visit, or insurance quote.

Editorial standards, provenance, and how to cite this page

Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

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