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
SheetMO-BETHEL-MO · Bethel, MO 104 pop · income 34th 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 Bethel
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Bethel on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Aubrey · lowest
37,500
Aubrey · lowest
37,500 median HH income
45.0% of the leader · rank #1
Bethel · this city
59,375
Bethel · this city
59,375 median HH income
71.2% of the leader · rank #2
Pitts · near
59,375
Pitts · near
59,375 median HH income
71.2% of the leader · rank #3
Richfield · near
59,375
Richfield · near
59,375 median HH income
71.2% of the leader · rank #4
Grand Tower · near
59,375
Grand Tower · near
59,375 median HH income
71.2% of the leader · rank #5
Pontoon Beach · near
59,375
Pontoon Beach · near
59,375 median HH income
71.2% of the leader · rank #6
Novelty · highest
83,409
Novelty · highest
83,409 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 Bethel 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: 104.
Nationally, Bethel sits in the 34th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
34th
percentile, household income
1st
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: Bethel, MO
Bethel is a small town in Missouri, home to 104 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Bethel report a median income of $59,375 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 10.0%. Bethel's housing stock carries a median value of $55,000, and the median resident age is 51.5 years. About 12.0% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 72.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $972 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $219 across Missouri, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Workers in Bethel report an average commute of 23.8 minutes, with 73.0% driving alone and 1.6% working from home. 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 Bethel'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 population change to work and mobility to comparison shortlist to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Bethel, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Is Bethel growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -6 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -4.5% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
What does the journey to work look like in Bethel?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 73.0%. The reported mean trip to work is 23.8 minutes.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Bethel?
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 Hurley (104 residents, $47,188 income); Collins (105 residents, $40,417 income); Fremont (103 residents). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Aubrey, AR (104 residents); Gazelle, CA (104 residents); Tildenville, FL (104 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Bethel?
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 0.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 10.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Below median income · poverty 10.0% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
90.8 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Missouri average
D
City profile score · Bethel, 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
10.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$59,375
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
12.0%
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).
Bethel profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 83/100 (A-) · 90.8 index
Poverty rate: 40/100 (D) · 10.0%
Household income: 34/100 (F) · $59,375
Bachelor's+ share: 12/100 (F) · 12.0%
How does Bethel compare to other US cities?
Where Bethel sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income34% higher than other cities
Home value1% 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 Bethel 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 Bethel near the bottom of Missouri's cities
Among the 875 Missouri cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Bethel ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Bethel only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#317 of 842
62nd percentile in Missouri
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 875
0th percentile in Missouri
Median Home Value
#768 of 833
8th percentile in Missouri
Poverty Rate
#441 of 875
49th percentile in Missouri
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#564 of 875
35th 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
34th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Bethel's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$55,000Among the most affordablemore affordable than 99% 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
Bethel's home-value-to-income ratio: 0.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#26 of 15,516
More affordable than 100% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#26 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 0.9×, Bethel sits in the affordable band:
national rank #26 of 15,516 and #26 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
$59,375Bethel, MO median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Bethel, 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 Bethel, MO.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)12.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)10.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)72.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
104
Median Income
$59,375
Median Home Value
$55,000
Median Age
51.5
Poverty Rate
10.0%
Labor force participation
72.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
12.0%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Bethel's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
132 residents
2021
129 residents
2022
129 residents
2023
128 residents
2024
129 residents
2025
126 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
23.8 minutes
Drive Alone
73.0%
Carpool
11.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
14.3%
Work from Home
1.6%
Based on 63 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 Bethel. 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 Bethel 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 Bethel sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Bethel 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, 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.