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Place dossier plate
SheetMO-BRANSON-MO · Branson, MO 12,760 pop · income 27th pct · 12 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 Branson
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Branson on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Jennings · lowest
37,356
Jennings · lowest
37,356 median HH income
27.5% of the leader · rank #1
Streator · near
54,953
Streator · near
54,953 median HH income
40.5% of the leader · rank #2
Branson · this city
54,961
Branson · this city
54,961 median HH income
40.5% of the leader · rank #3
Covington · near
54,962
Covington · near
54,962 median HH income
40.5% of the leader · rank #4
Seneca Knolls · near
54,963
Seneca Knolls · near
54,963 median HH income
40.5% of the leader · rank #5
Independence · near
54,967
Independence · near
54,967 median HH income
40.5% of the leader · rank #6
Manorville · highest
135,695
Manorville · highest
135,695 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 Branson 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: 12,760.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Branson - the verdict
Nationally, Branson sits in the 27th percentile for household income and the 2nd percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
27th
percentile, household income
53rd
percentile, home value
7th
percentile, median rent
2nd
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: Branson, MO
Missouri's Branson is a small town, with 12,760 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $54,961 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 13.8%. Home values in Branson run a median of $237,900, and the median resident age is 38.2 years. About 29.4% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 57.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 100 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Growing), up 6% from five years earlier. Branson's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: per-100,000 total crime stands at 6493.6 in FBI UCR data, above the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 57.5°F with 48.3 inches of precipitation per year.
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). 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. Natural-hazard exposure scores 50.6 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Branson'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 housing and income to reported crime to comparison shortlist to climate and hazard context to within-city variation to work and mobility to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Branson, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, annual population history, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Population change
Is Branson growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +272 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 100 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
How far does income reach against housing in Branson?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 13.8%, 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. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
Which cities make useful reference points for Branson?
Within Missouri, the closest population matches are Neosho (12,857 residents, $55,159 income); St. Ann (12,865 residents, $52,059 income); Jennings (12,900 residents, $37,356 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Woodhaven, MI (12,761 residents); Emeryville, CA (12,756 residents); Gonzales, LA (12,748 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 12 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 Branson?
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 6493.6 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 185% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
6016.0
Violent rate
477.6
Total reported rate
6493.6
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 57.5°F, with 48.3 inches of precipitation. 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.
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
57.5°F
Annual precipitation
48.3 in
FEMA risk index (state avg)
50.6
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
What does the journey to work look like in Branson?
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 71.7%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.0%
Work from home
11.4%
Drive alone
71.7%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 6,130 workers age 16+.
The NCES join finds 7 public schools within the city match. 29.4% 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.
Matched public schools
7
Bachelor's degree+
29.4%
Poverty estimate
13.8%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Below median income · poverty 13.8% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
90.8 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Missouri average
D
City profile score · Branson, MO
40/100
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 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 C
29.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$54,961
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
13.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
478 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Branson profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 83/100 (A-) · 90.8 index
Bachelor's+ share: 57/100 (C) · 29.4%
Household income: 27/100 (F) · $54,961
Poverty rate: 25/100 (F) · 13.8%
Violent crime: 17/100 (F) · 478 /100k
Where Branson sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Branson'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 - Branson highlighted among 10 peers.Read the chart values
Branson, MO (this city): home $237,900, crime 6,494/100k
Woodhaven, MI : home $221,200, crime 1,655/100k
Emeryville, CA : home $598,300, crime 14,719/100k
Gonzales, LA : home $212,800, crime 4,299/100k
Sandy, OR : home $450,200, crime 1,580/100k
Neosho, MO : home $148,600, crime 2,415/100k
St. Ann, MO : home $118,600, crime 1,618/100k
Fulton, MO : home $144,500, crime 1,295/100k
Union, MO : home $199,100, crime 2,718/100k
Festus, MO : home $206,200, crime 1,212/100k
How does Branson compare to other US cities?
Here's how Branson stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income27% higher than other cities
Home value53% pricier than other cities
Median rent7% pricier than other cities
Safety2% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Missouri and the picture shifts: Branson ranks #226 of 234 Missouri cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Branson 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 Branson near the bottom of Missouri's cities
Among the 875 Missouri cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Branson ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Branson only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#384 of 842
54th percentile in Missouri
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 875
0th percentile in Missouri
Median Home Value
#110 of 833
87th percentile in Missouri
Poverty Rate
#290 of 875
66th percentile in Missouri
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#163 of 875
81st 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
27th percentile nationally for median household income · 2nd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Branson's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Branson'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 Branson's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$237,90047th percentilemore affordable than 47% 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
Branson's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#11,597 of 15,516
More affordable than 25% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,248 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 4.3×, Branson sits in the moderate band:
national rank #11,597 of 15,516 and #2,248 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
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
$54,961Branson, MO median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Branson, 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 Branson, MO.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)29.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)13.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)57.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
12,760
Median Income
$54,961
Median Home Value
$237,900
Median Age
38.2
Poverty Rate
13.8%
Labor force participation
57.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
29.4%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
6493.6
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
477.6
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
6016.0
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
57.5°F
Annual Precipitation
48.3"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Schools
Total Schools
7
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Branson's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
12,649 residents
2021
12,761 residents
2022
12,923 residents
2023
12,910 residents
2024
12,895 residents
2025
12,921 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Growing
Total Permits (2024)
100
housing units authorized
Single-Family
50
detached homes
Multifamily
50
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
7.8
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
94
46
48
$11.9M
2020
123
39
84
$14.5M
2021
176
62
114
$20.3M
2022
99
23
76
$17.3M
2023
92
52
40
$10.0M
2024
100
50
50
$11.4M
Permit volume increased 6% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
71.7%
Carpool
12.8%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.0%
Work from Home
11.4%
Other
1.1%
Based on 6,130 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 Branson. 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 Branson 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 Branson sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Branson 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, 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.