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Place dossier plate
SheetMO-MALDEN-MO · Malden, MO 3,818 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 Malden
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Malden on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Grayson · lowest
28,548
Grayson · lowest
28,548 median HH income
12.6% of the leader · rank #1
Henderson · near
38,780
Henderson · near
38,780 median HH income
17.2% of the leader · rank #2
Hatfield · near
38,783
Hatfield · near
38,783 median HH income
17.2% of the leader · rank #3
Malden · this city
38,786
Malden · this city
38,786 median HH income
17.2% of the leader · rank #4
Inwood · near
38,786
Inwood · near
38,786 median HH income
17.2% of the leader · rank #5
Hohenwald · near
38,791
Hohenwald · near
38,791 median HH income
17.2% of the leader · rank #6
Frontenac · highest
225,813
Frontenac · highest
225,813 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 Malden 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: 3,818.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Malden - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Malden places in the 7th percentile for household income and the 27th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
7th
percentile, household income
6th
percentile, home value
7th
percentile, median rent
27th
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: Malden, MO
Malden is a small town in Missouri, home to 3,818 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Malden report a median income of $38,786 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 21.0%. Typical homes in Malden are valued around $88,900, and the median resident age is 38.6 years. Educational attainment runs 8.4% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 45.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 2 residential building permits were authorized in Malden (Building Boom), up 100% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: per-100,000 total crime stands at 2278.0 in FBI UCR data, near the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
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. The average commute for Malden workers runs 23.9 minutes, with 75.3% driving alone and 1.9% working from home. 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 Malden'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 reported crime to schools and households to population change to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Malden, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares, 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.
1. Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Malden?
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 2278.0 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, near the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 0% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 8.4% 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 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.
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -202 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -5.5% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 2 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 Malden?
Within Missouri, the closest population matches are St. James (3,922 residents, $50,644 income); Whiteman AFB (3,713 residents, $60,250 income); Woodson Terrace (3,935 residents, $49,650 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are St. Anthony, ID (3,818 residents); Grayson, KY (3,820 residents); Nelsonville, OH (3,816 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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Malden?
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 75.3%. The reported mean trip to work is 23.9 minutes.
Public transit
0.0%
Work from home
1.9%
Drive alone
75.3%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,294 workers age 16+.
How far does income reach against housing in Malden?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 21.0%, 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. 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.
Household income
$38,786
Home value
$88,900
Value / income
2.3×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 21.0% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
90.8 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Missouri average
F
City profile score · Malden, MO
23/100
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.
Poverty rate F
21.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
577 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income F
$38,786
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
8.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Malden profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 83/100 (A-) · 90.8 index
Poverty rate: 11/100 (F) · 21.0%
Violent crime: 11/100 (F) · 577 /100k
Household income: 5/100 (F) · $38,786
Bachelor's+ share: 2/100 (F) · 8.4%
Where Malden sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Malden'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 - Malden highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
Malden, MO (this city): home $88,900, crime 2,278/100k
St. Anthony, ID : home $199,600, crime 629/100k
Grayson, KY : home $125,600, crime 2,212/100k
Nelsonville, OH : home $90,700, crime 2,716/100k
Oregon, IL : home $140,100, crime 902/100k
St. James, MO : home $117,200, crime 2,309/100k
Woodson Terrace, MO : home $100,600, crime 2,029/100k
Frontenac, MO : home $1,004,500, crime 1,991/100k
Moscow Mills, MO : home $186,900, crime 543/100k
How does Malden compare to other US cities?
Here's how Malden stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income7% higher than other cities
Home value6% pricier than other cities
Median rent7% pricier than other cities
Safety27% 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: Malden ranks #160 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 Malden 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 Malden near the bottom of Missouri's cities
Among the 875 Missouri cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Malden ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Malden only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#710 of 842
16th percentile in Missouri
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 875
0th percentile in Missouri
Median Home Value
#583 of 833
30th percentile in Missouri
Poverty Rate
#150 of 875
83rd percentile in Missouri
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#681 of 875
22nd 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 · 27th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Malden's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Malden'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 Malden's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$88,900Among the most affordablemore affordable than 94% 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
Malden's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#2,905 of 15,516
More affordable than 81% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,686 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.3×, Malden sits in the affordable band:
national rank #2,905 of 15,516 and #2,686 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
$38,786Malden, MO median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Malden, 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 Malden, MO.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)8.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)21.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)45.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
3,818
Median Income
$38,786
Median Home Value
$88,900
Median Age
38.6
Poverty Rate
21.0%
Labor force participation
45.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
8.4%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2278.0
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
576.7
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1701.3
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
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Malden's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
3,695 residents
2021
3,628 residents
2022
3,585 residents
2023
3,529 residents
2024
3,527 residents
2025
3,493 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
2
housing units authorized
Single-Family
2
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.5
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
1
1
0
$0.0M
2020
2
2
0
$0.1M
2021
2
2
0
$0.5M
2022
2
2
0
$0.3M
2023
6
2
4
$0.5M
2024
2
2
0
$0.1M
Permit volume increased 100% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
23.9 minutes
Drive Alone
75.3%
Carpool
18.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.2%
Work from Home
1.9%
Other
3.5%
Based on 1,294 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 Malden. 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 Malden 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 Malden sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Malden 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.