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Place dossier plate
SheetMO-ALTON-MO · Alton, MO 647 pop · income 16th 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 Alton
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Alton on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Conway · lowest
34,153
Conway · lowest
34,153 median HH income
30.5% of the leader · rank #1
Rogers City · near
47,601
Rogers City · near
47,601 median HH income
42.5% of the leader · rank #2
Alpena · near
47,604
Alpena · near
47,604 median HH income
42.6% of the leader · rank #3
Tryon · near
47,604
Tryon · near
47,604 median HH income
42.6% of the leader · rank #4
Alton · this city
47,606
Alton · this city
47,606 median HH income
42.6% of the leader · rank #5
South Carthage · near
47,610
South Carthage · near
47,610 median HH income
42.6% of the leader · rank #6
Josephville · highest
111,875
Josephville · highest
111,875 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
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Alton 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: 647.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Alton places in the 16th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
16th
percentile, household income
16th
percentile, home value
7th
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: Alton, MO
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 647 residents in Alton, a small town within Missouri. Households in Alton report a median income of $47,606 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 18.5%. Alton's housing stock carries a median value of $117,100, and the median resident age is 37.2 years. About 24.6% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 47.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 0 residential building permits were authorized in Alton (No Permits), per Census BPS data. The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 55.7°F with 47.2 inches of precipitation per year and 4.2 inches of snowfall.
Living costs in Missouri run below the national norm: the state registers 90.8 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Well Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $972 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $219 across Missouri, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 50.6 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Alton'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 population change to housing and income to climate and hazard context; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Alton, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, matched public-school count, local building permits, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, 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 Alton?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 75.1%. 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 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.
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 24.6% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Alton?
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.
Within Missouri, the closest population matches are Josephville (646 residents, $111,875 income); Pilot Grove (646 residents, $63,750 income); Golden City (644 residents, $38,500 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Paradise Park, CA (647 residents); Eads, CO (647 residents); Pavo, GA (647 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.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +1 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
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 Alton?
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 2.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 18.5%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
2.5×
Home value
$117,100
Household income
$47,606
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
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 55.7°F, with 47.2 inches of precipitation and 4.2 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Missouri is 50.6 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.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
50.6
Annual precipitation
47.2 in
Mean temperature
55.7°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
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 A-
90.8 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Bachelor's+ share D
24.6%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$47,606
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
18.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Alton profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 83/100 (A-) · 90.8 index
Bachelor's+ share: 48/100 (D) · 24.6%
Household income: 17/100 (F) · $47,606
Poverty rate: 16/100 (F) · 18.5%
How does Alton compare to other US cities?
Alton measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income16% higher than other cities
Home value16% pricier than other cities
Median rent7% 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 Alton against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Missouri only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Missouri-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Alton near the bottom of Missouri's cities
Among the 875 Missouri cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Alton ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Alton only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#550 of 842
35th percentile in Missouri
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 875
0th percentile in Missouri
Median Home Value
#433 of 833
48th percentile in Missouri
Poverty Rate
#191 of 875
78th percentile in Missouri
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#221 of 875
75th percentile in Missouri
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 Missouri only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
16th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Alton's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$117,100Among the most affordablemore affordable than 84% 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
Alton's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,790 of 15,516
More affordable than 76% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,431 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.5×, Alton sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,790 of 15,516 and #3,431 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
$47,606Alton, MO median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Alton, MO median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Alton, MO.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)24.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)18.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)47.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
647
Median Income
$47,606
Median Home Value
$117,100
Median Age
37.2
Poverty Rate
18.5%
Labor force participation
47.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
24.6%
Climate
Avg Temperature
55.7°F
Annual Precipitation
47.2"
Annual Snowfall
4.2"
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
Alton's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
701 residents
2021
701 residents
2022
704 residents
2023
705 residents
2024
701 residents
2025
702 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
75.1%
Carpool
14.3%
Public Transit
4.6%
Walk
0.4%
Work from Home
5.5%
Based on 237 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Missouri statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $219
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Missouri at $219 (electricity about $105 , water and sewer about $42 ).
These are Missouri statewide averages, not a meter reading for Alton. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Missouri's BEA cost-of-living index is 90.8 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Alton is $972/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Missouri statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 50.6 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Missouri statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Alton sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Alton compares to similar-size Missouri 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, 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.