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Place dossier plate
SheetMO-CARL-JUNCTION-MO · Carl Junction, MO 8,257 pop · income 59th 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 Carl Junction
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Carl Junction on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Berkeley · lowest
40,654
Berkeley · lowest
40,654 median HH income
17.3% of the leader · rank #1
Parishville · near
77,847
Parishville · near
77,847 median HH income
33.1% of the leader · rank #2
Richfield · near
77,847
Richfield · near
77,847 median HH income
33.1% of the leader · rank #3
Carl Junction · this city
77,855
Carl Junction · this city
77,855 median HH income
33.1% of the leader · rank #4
Strawberry Pl… · near
77,855
Strawberry Pl… · near
77,855 median HH income
33.1% of the leader · rank #5
Hatfield · near
77,857
Hatfield · near
77,857 median HH income
33.1% of the leader · rank #6
Long Grove · highest
235,368
Long Grove · highest
235,368 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 Carl Junction 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: 8,257.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Carl Junction - the verdict
Carl Junction ranks in the 59th percentile for household income and the 68th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
59th
percentile, household income
45th
percentile, home value
7th
percentile, median rent
68th
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: Carl Junction, MO
8,257 people live in Carl Junction, Missouri - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $77,855 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 7.8%. Home values in Carl Junction run a median of $206,400, and the median resident age is 35.8 years. 40.5% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 67.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 29 residential building permits were authorized in Carl Junction (Construction Slowdown), down 63% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Carl Junction reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 911.7 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Living costs in Missouri run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Missouri scores 90.8 (Well Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. 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. 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 Carl Junction'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 work and mobility to population change to comparison shortlist to schools and households to reported crime; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Carl Junction, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits.
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
How far does income reach against housing in Carl Junction?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 7.8%, 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. 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Carl Junction?
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 83.1%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Is Carl Junction 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 +306 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +3.7% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 29 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Which cities make useful reference points for Carl Junction?
Within Missouri, the closest population matches are Maplewood (8,154 residents, $65,510 income); Brentwood (8,151 residents, $86,641 income); Berkeley (8,149 residents, $40,654 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Seaford, DE (8,255 residents); Alondra Park, CA (8,262 residents); Orland, CA (8,252 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.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Carl Junction?
The NCES join finds 6 public schools within the city match. 40.5% 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
6
Bachelor's degree+
40.5%
Poverty estimate
7.8%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Carl Junction?
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 911.7 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 60% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
639.4
Violent rate
272.3
Total reported rate
911.7
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Above median income · poverty 7.8% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
90.8 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Missouri average
C
City profile score · Carl Junction, MO
59/100
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 B+
40.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income C
$77,855
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate D
7.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
272 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Carl Junction profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 83/100 (A-) · 90.8 index
Bachelor's+ share: 76/100 (B+) · 40.5%
Household income: 57/100 (C) · $77,855
Poverty rate: 48/100 (D) · 7.8%
Violent crime: 37/100 (F) · 272 /100k
Where Carl Junction sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Carl Junction'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 - Carl Junction highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
Carl Junction, MO (this city): home $206,400, crime 912/100k
Seaford, DE : home $223,700, crime 5,701/100k
Orland, CA : home $320,700, crime 1,153/100k
Maplewood, MO : home $231,500, crime 7,452/100k
Brentwood, MO : home $276,100, crime 4,039/100k
Berkeley, MO : home $80,000, crime 9,009/100k
Oak Grove, MO : home $190,800, crime 1,420/100k
Parkville, MO : home $557,100, crime 853/100k
Nevada, MO : home $100,600, crime 5,316/100k
How does Carl Junction compare to other US cities?
Carl Junction measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income59% higher than other cities
Home value45% pricier than other cities
Median rent7% pricier than other cities
Safety68% 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: Carl Junction ranks #66 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 Carl Junction 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 Carl Junction near the bottom of Missouri's cities
Among the 875 Missouri cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Carl Junction ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Carl Junction only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#163 of 842
81st percentile in Missouri
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 875
0th percentile in Missouri
Median Home Value
#158 of 833
81st percentile in Missouri
Poverty Rate
#525 of 875
40th percentile in Missouri
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#84 of 875
90th 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
59th percentile nationally for median household income · 68th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Carl Junction's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Carl Junction'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 Carl Junction's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$206,400Among the most affordablemore affordable than 55% 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
Carl Junction's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#4,772 of 15,516
More affordable than 69% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,215 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.7×, Carl Junction sits in the affordable band:
national rank #4,772 of 15,516 and #4,215 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
$77,855Carl Junction, MO median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Carl Junction, 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 Carl Junction, MO.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)40.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)7.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)67.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
8,257
Median Income
$77,855
Median Home Value
$206,400
Median Age
35.8
Poverty Rate
7.8%
Labor force participation
67.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
40.5%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
911.7
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
272.3
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
639.4
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
6
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Carl Junction's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
8,178 residents
2021
8,270 residents
2022
8,357 residents
2023
8,379 residents
2024
8,430 residents
2025
8,484 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
29
housing units authorized
Single-Family
27
detached homes
Multifamily
2
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
3.5
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
78
78
0
$11.4M
2020
77
77
0
$11.2M
2021
64
64
0
$9.5M
2022
37
37
0
$6.8M
2023
23
21
2
$4.3M
2024
29
27
2
$5.4M
Permit volume decreased 63% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
83.1%
Carpool
10.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.9%
Work from Home
4.7%
Other
1.2%
Based on 3,858 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 Carl Junction. 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 Carl Junction 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 Carl Junction sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Carl Junction 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, 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.