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
SheetMI-PERRY-MI · Perry, MI 2,198 pop · income 54th 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 Perry
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Perry on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
West Branch · lowest
40,078
West Branch · lowest
40,078 median HH income
29.4% of the leader · rank #1
Perry · this city
73,468
Perry · this city
73,468 median HH income
53.9% of the leader · rank #2
Reece City · near
73,472
Reece City · near
73,472 median HH income
53.9% of the leader · rank #3
Bee Branch · near
73,472
Bee Branch · near
73,472 median HH income
53.9% of the leader · rank #4
Manchester · near
73,472
Manchester · near
73,472 median HH income
53.9% of the leader · rank #5
Millerton · near
73,472
Millerton · near
73,472 median HH income
53.9% of the leader · rank #6
Beaver Lake · highest
136,364
Beaver Lake · highest
136,364 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 Perry 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: 2,198.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Perry - the verdict
Perry ranks in the 54th percentile for household income and the 92nd percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
54th
percentile, household income
25th
percentile, home value
32nd
percentile, median rent
92nd
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: Perry, MI
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 2,198 residents in Perry, a small town within Michigan. Perry households earn a median of $73,468 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 9.7%. Perry's housing stock carries a median value of $144,400, and the median resident age is 35.2 years. About 19.6% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 65.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 8 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Building Boom), up 700% from five years earlier. Perry reports a comparatively low crime rate: per-100,000 total crime stands at 326.3 in FBI UCR data, below the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Living costs in Michigan run below the national norm: the state registers 96.2 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,113 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $238 across Michigan, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 49.6 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Perry'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 housing and income to reported crime to comparison shortlist to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Perry, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, annual population history, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates.
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.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in Perry?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 77.2%. 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.
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. 19.6% 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Perry?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 9.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Perry?
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 Michigan, the closest population matches are Constantine (2,196 residents, $71,929 income); Cass City (2,189 residents, $55,500 income); Indian River (2,210 residents, $60,750 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are East Quincy, CA (2,198 residents); Burns Harbor, IN (2,198 residents); Beaver Lake, NE (2,198 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.
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 Perry?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 326.3 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 86% 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.
Total reported rate
326.3
Violent rate
0.0
Property rate
326.3
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +60 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.9% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 8 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
2,074
2025 estimate
2,134
Period change
+2.9%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Above median income · poverty 9.7% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
96.2 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Michigan average
C
City profile score · Perry, MI
57/100
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.
Violent crime A+
0 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
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.
Household income C-
$73,468
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate D
9.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
19.6%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Perry profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 97/100 (A+) · 0 /100k
Cost of living: 57/100 (C) · 96.2 index
Household income: 53/100 (C-) · $73,468
Poverty rate: 41/100 (D) · 9.7%
Bachelor's+ share: 33/100 (F) · 19.6%
Where Perry sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Perry'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 - Perry highlighted among 25 peers.Read the chart values
Perry, MI (this city): home $144,400, crime 326/100k
Madison, NC : home $144,900, crime 2,032/100k
Cass City, MI : home $102,300, crime 1,170/100k
Bronson, MI : home $93,900, crime 3,936/100k
West Branch, MI : home $114,300, crime 424/100k
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 Perry compare to other US cities?
Here's how Perry stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income54% higher than other cities
Home value25% pricier than other cities
Median rent32% pricier than other cities
Safety92% 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 Michigan, Perry ranks #13 of 254 Michigan 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 Perry 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 Perry near the bottom of Michigan's cities
Among the 727 Michigan cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Perry ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Perry only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#194 of 718
73rd percentile in Michigan
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 727
0th percentile in Michigan
Median Home Value
#377 of 721
48th percentile in Michigan
Poverty Rate
#311 of 727
57th percentile in Michigan
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#361 of 727
50th 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
54th percentile nationally for median household income · 92nd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Perry's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Perry'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 Perry's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$144,400Among the most affordablemore affordable than 75% 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
Perry's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#1,521 of 15,516
More affordable than 90% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,457 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.0×, Perry sits in the affordable band:
national rank #1,521 of 15,516 and #1,457 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
$73,468Perry, MI median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Perry, 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 Perry, MI.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)19.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)9.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)65.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,198
Median Income
$73,468
Median Home Value
$144,400
Median Age
35.2
Poverty Rate
9.7%
Labor force participation
65.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
19.6%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
326.3
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
326.3
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
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Perry's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,074 residents
2021
2,088 residents
2022
2,118 residents
2023
2,129 residents
2024
2,126 residents
2025
2,134 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
8
housing units authorized
Single-Family
8
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
3.6
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
1
1
0
$0.1M
2020
9
9
0
$1.4M
2021
17
17
0
$3.2M
2022
8
8
0
$1.7M
2023
2
2
0
$0.5M
2024
8
8
0
$1.9M
Permit volume increased 700% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
77.2%
Carpool
12.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.9%
Work from Home
8.7%
Based on 1,086 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 Perry. 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 Perry 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 Perry sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Perry 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, 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.