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Place dossier plate
SheetMO-BELLE-MO · Belle, MO 1,476 pop · income 28th pct · 4 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 Belle
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Belle on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Ringgold · lowest
22,833
Ringgold · lowest
22,833 median HH income
19.6% of the leader · rank #1
Ellinwood · near
55,332
Ellinwood · near
55,332 median HH income
47.6% of the leader · rank #2
Moab · near
55,333
Moab · near
55,333 median HH income
47.6% of the leader · rank #3
New Orleans · near
55,339
New Orleans · near
55,339 median HH income
47.6% of the leader · rank #4
Belle · this city
55,341
Belle · this city
55,341 median HH income
47.6% of the leader · rank #5
East Frankfort · near
55,346
East Frankfort · near
55,346 median HH income
47.6% of the leader · rank #6
Lone Jack · highest
116,328
Lone Jack · highest
116,328 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 Belle 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: 1,476.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Belle places in the 28th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
28th
percentile, household income
24th
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: Belle, MO
1,476 people live in Belle, Missouri - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Belle brings in $55,341 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 9.1%. Belle's housing stock carries a median value of $141,100, and the median resident age is 34.0 years. About 14.7% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 54.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 4 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Low Activity).
Living costs in Missouri run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Missouri at 90.8 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $972 per month statewide. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Missouri run around $219, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. 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 Belle'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 comparison shortlist to schools and households to work and mobility to within-city variation to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Belle, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, local building permits.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Belle?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 9.1%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Belle?
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 Lakeshire (1,478 residents, $61,346 income); Tarkio (1,478 residents, $60,250 income); Bel-Nor (1,472 residents, $106,875 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Beesleys Point, NJ (1,476 residents); East Carbon, UT (1,476 residents); Samson, AL (1,477 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.
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. 14.7% 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.
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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Belle?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 85.8%. 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. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Drive alone
85.8%
Work from home
2.2%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 600 workers age 16+.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -4 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -0.3% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 4 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.
2020 estimate
1,383
2025 estimate
1,379
Period change
-0.3%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Below median income · poverty 9.1% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
90.8 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Missouri average
D
City profile score · Belle, MO
44/100
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.
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.
Poverty rate D
9.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$55,341
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
14.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Belle profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 83/100 (A-) · 90.8 index
Poverty rate: 43/100 (D) · 9.1%
Household income: 28/100 (F) · $55,341
Bachelor's+ share: 19/100 (F) · 14.7%
How does Belle compare to other US cities?
Here's how Belle stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income28% higher than other cities
Home value24% 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 Belle 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 Belle near the bottom of Missouri's cities
Among the 875 Missouri cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Belle ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Belle only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#370 of 842
56th percentile in Missouri
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 875
0th percentile in Missouri
Median Home Value
#329 of 833
60th percentile in Missouri
Poverty Rate
#482 of 875
45th percentile in Missouri
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#468 of 875
46th 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
28th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Belle's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$141,100Among the most affordablemore affordable than 76% 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
Belle's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#4,262 of 15,516
More affordable than 73% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,818 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.5×, Belle sits in the affordable band:
national rank #4,262 of 15,516 and #3,818 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
$55,341Belle, MO median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Belle, 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 Belle, MO.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)14.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)9.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)54.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,476
Median Income
$55,341
Median Home Value
$141,100
Median Age
34.0
Poverty Rate
9.1%
Labor force participation
54.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
14.7%
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
Belle's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,383 residents
2021
1,379 residents
2022
1,381 residents
2023
1,382 residents
2024
1,385 residents
2025
1,379 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Low Activity
Total Permits (2024)
4
housing units authorized
Single-Family
4
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
2.7
permits per 1,000 residents
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
4
4
0
$1.3M
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
85.8%
Carpool
11.7%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.3%
Work from Home
2.2%
Based on 600 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 Belle. 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 Belle 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 Belle sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Belle 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, 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.