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Place dossier plate
SheetMO-LAMAR-HEIGHTS-MO · Lamar Heights, MO 127 pop · income 7th 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 Lamar Heights
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Lamar Heights on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Trujillo Alto… · lowest
38,951
Trujillo Alto… · lowest
38,951 median HH income
28.7% of the leader · rank #1
Conetoe · near
38,955
Conetoe · near
38,955 median HH income
28.7% of the leader · rank #2
Lamar Heights · this city
38,958
Lamar Heights · this city
38,958 median HH income
28.7% of the leader · rank #3
Watson · near
38,958
Watson · near
38,958 median HH income
28.7% of the leader · rank #4
Baileyton · near
38,958
Baileyton · near
38,958 median HH income
28.7% of the leader · rank #5
Smeltertown · highest
135,580
Smeltertown · highest
135,580 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #6
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 Lamar Heights 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: 127.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Lamar Heights lands in the 7th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
7th
percentile, household income
58th
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: Lamar Heights, MO
127 people live in Lamar Heights, Missouri - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $38,958 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 30.0%. Lamar Heights's housing stock carries a median value of $260,000, and the median resident age is 31.6 years. About 25.3% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 59.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $972 per month. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Missouri's average monthly utility costs around $219 (state average). Commute times here average 9.9 minutes, with 75.0% driving alone and 1.7% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 50.6 out of 100 (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Lamar Heights'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 comparison shortlist to work and mobility to population change to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Lamar Heights, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Lamar Heights?
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 Amsterdam (127 residents, $43,214 income); Climax Springs (126 residents); Levasy (128 residents, $91,875 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Banks, AR (127 residents); Wawona, CA (127 residents); Pitkin, CO (127 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Lamar Heights?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 75.0%. The reported mean trip to work is 9.9 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.
Is Lamar Heights growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +2 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.2% 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 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Lamar Heights?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 6.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 30.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 30.0% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
90.8 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Missouri average
F
City profile score · Lamar Heights, MO
32/100
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.
Bachelor's+ share C-
25.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$38,958
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
30.0%
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).
Lamar Heights profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 83/100 (A-) · 90.8 index
Bachelor's+ share: 50/100 (C-) · 25.3%
Household income: 5/100 (F) · $38,958
Poverty rate: 0/100 (F) · 30.0%
How does Lamar Heights compare to other US cities?
Where Lamar Heights sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income7% higher than other cities
Home value58% 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 Lamar Heights 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 Lamar Heights near the bottom of Missouri's cities
Among the 875 Missouri cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Lamar Heights ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Lamar Heights only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#708 of 842
16th percentile in Missouri
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 875
0th percentile in Missouri
Median Home Value
#92 of 833
89th percentile in Missouri
Poverty Rate
#72 of 875
92nd percentile in Missouri
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#212 of 875
76th 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
7th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Lamar Heights's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$260,00042nd percentilemore affordable than 42% 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
Lamar Heights's home-value-to-income ratio: 6.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,514 of 15,516
More affordable than 6% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,710 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 6.7×, Lamar Heights sits in the pressured band:
national rank #14,514 of 15,516 and #10,710 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
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
$38,958Lamar Heights, MO median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Lamar Heights, 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 Lamar Heights, MO.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)25.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)30.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)59.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
127
Median Income
$38,958
Median Home Value
$260,000
Median Age
31.6
Poverty Rate
30.0%
Labor force participation
59.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
25.3%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Lamar Heights's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
169 residents
2021
169 residents
2022
170 residents
2023
171 residents
2024
171 residents
2025
171 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
9.9 minutes
Drive Alone
75.0%
Carpool
23.3%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
1.7%
Based on 60 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 Lamar Heights. 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 Lamar Heights 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 Lamar Heights sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Lamar Heights 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.