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Place dossier plate
SheetMI-ALMA-MI · Alma, MI 9,421 pop · income 20th pct · 10 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 Alma
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Alma on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Benton Harbor · lowest
29,652
Benton Harbor · lowest
29,652 median HH income
26.5% of the leader · rank #1
Alma · near
50,500
Alma · near
50,500 median HH income
45.1% of the leader · rank #2
De Land · near
50,500
De Land · near
50,500 median HH income
45.1% of the leader · rank #3
Alma · this city
50,506
Alma · this city
50,506 median HH income
45.1% of the leader · rank #4
North Robinson · near
50,511
North Robinson · near
50,511 median HH income
45.1% of the leader · rank #5
Port Matilda · near
50,511
Port Matilda · near
50,511 median HH income
45.1% of the leader · rank #6
Ashland · highest
112,009
Ashland · highest
112,009 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 Alma 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: 9,421.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Alma - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Alma lands in the 20th percentile for household income and the 47th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
20th
percentile, household income
12th
percentile, home value
32nd
percentile, median rent
47th
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: Alma, MI
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 9,421 residents in Alma, a small town within Michigan. The typical household in Alma brings in $50,506 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 14.0%. Alma's housing stock carries a median value of $108,100, and the median resident age is 32.5 years. About 28.5% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 54.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 2 residential building permits were authorized in Alma (Building Boom), up 100% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Alma reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 1468.5 incidents per 100,000 residents, below the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 47.0°F with 34.5 inches of precipitation per year and 39.3 inches of snowfall.
Living costs in Michigan run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Michigan scores 96.2 (Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,113 monthly. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Michigan's average monthly utility costs around $238 (state average). Commute times here average 20.9 minutes, with 75.1% driving alone and 10.7% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. Natural-hazard exposure scores 49.6 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Alma'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 schools and households to comparison shortlist to reported crime to population change to climate and hazard context 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 Alma, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, annual population history.
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 Alma?
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 75.1%. The reported mean trip to work is 20.9 minutes.
The NCES join finds 5 public schools within the city match. 28.5% 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 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Alma?
Within Michigan, the closest population matches are Charlotte (9,269 residents, $63,385 income); Plymouth (9,234 residents, $111,742 income); Ecorse (9,170 residents, $45,082 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Charter Oak, CA (9,414 residents); St. Stephens, NC (9,409 residents); Bastrop, LA (9,408 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.
PlainCities matches 10 Census tracts to this city.
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.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Alma?
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 1468.5 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 36% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
964.7
Violent rate
503.8
Total reported rate
1468.5
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -136 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.4% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 2 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
-1.4%
2025 estimate
9,304
2020 estimate
9,440
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 47.0°F, with 34.5 inches of precipitation and 39.3 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Michigan is 49.6 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.
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.
Mean temperature
47.0°F
Annual precipitation
34.5 in
FEMA risk index (state avg)
49.6
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
How far does income reach against housing in Alma?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 14.0%, 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.
Household income
$50,506
Home value
$108,100
Value / income
2.1×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Michigan average
F
City profile score · Alma, MI
33/100
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.
Cost of living C
96.2 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Bachelor's+ share C
28.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
14.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$50,506
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime F
504 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Alma profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 57/100 (C) · 96.2 index
Bachelor's+ share: 55/100 (C) · 28.5%
Poverty rate: 24/100 (F) · 14.0%
Household income: 21/100 (F) · $50,506
Violent crime: 16/100 (F) · 504 /100k
Where Alma sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Alma'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 - Alma highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
Alma, MI (this city): home $108,100, crime 1,469/100k
Bastrop, LA : home $85,400, crime 6,256/100k
Southside, AL : home $202,900, crime 425/100k
Wasilla, AK : home $325,000, crime 2,871/100k
Charlotte, MI : home $140,500, crime 2,298/100k
Plymouth, MI : home $418,200, crime 1,023/100k
Lapeer, MI : home $165,300, crime 1,813/100k
Benton Harbor, MI : home $75,500, crime 7,372/100k
How does Alma compare to other US cities?
Where Alma sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income20% higher than other cities
Home value12% pricier than other cities
Median rent32% pricier than other cities
Safety47% 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 Michigan alone, Alma ranks #152 of 254 Michigan 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 Alma against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Michigan only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Michigan-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Alma near the bottom of Michigan's cities
Among the 727 Michigan cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Alma ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Alma only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#510 of 718
29th percentile in Michigan
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 727
0th percentile in Michigan
Median Home Value
#533 of 721
26th percentile in Michigan
Poverty Rate
#187 of 727
74th percentile in Michigan
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#210 of 727
71st percentile in Michigan
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 Michigan only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
20th percentile nationally for median household income · 47th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Alma's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Alma'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 Alma's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$108,100Among the most affordablemore affordable than 88% 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
Alma's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.1×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#2,180 of 15,516
More affordable than 86% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,061 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.1×, Alma sits in the affordable band:
national rank #2,180 of 15,516 and #2,061 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
$50,506Alma, MI median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Alma, MI median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Alma, MI.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)28.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)14.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)54.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
9,421
Median Income
$50,506
Median Home Value
$108,100
Median Age
32.5
Poverty Rate
14.0%
Labor force participation
54.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
28.5%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1468.5
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
503.8
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
964.7
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
47.0°F
Annual Precipitation
34.5"
Annual Snowfall
39.3"
Schools
Total Schools
5
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Alma's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
9,440 residents
2021
9,402 residents
2022
9,383 residents
2023
9,387 residents
2024
9,365 residents
2025
9,304 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
2
housing units authorized
Single-Family
2
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
1
1
0
$0.3M
2020
5
5
0
$1.2M
2021
12
4
8
$1.7M
2022
4
4
0
$0.8M
2023
4
4
0
$0.7M
2024
2
2
0
$0.4M
Permit volume increased 100% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
20.9 minutes
Drive Alone
75.1%
Carpool
2.8%
Public Transit
1.0%
Walk
8.2%
Work from Home
10.7%
Other
2.2%
Based on 4,170 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Michigan statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $238
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Michigan at $238 (electricity about $105 , water and sewer about $48 ).
These are Michigan statewide averages, not a meter reading for Alma. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Michigan's BEA cost-of-living index is 96.2 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Alma is $1,113/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Michigan statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 49.6 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Michigan statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Alma sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Alma compares to similar-size Michigan 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.