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Place dossier plate
SheetMO-MARSTON-MO · Marston, MO 439 pop · income 6th 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 Marston
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Marston on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
New Kingstown · lowest
2,499
New Kingstown · lowest
2,499 median HH income
3.3% of the leader · rank #1
Rough Rock · near
36,750
Rough Rock · near
36,750 median HH income
49.0% of the leader · rank #2
Fort Bidwell · near
36,750
Fort Bidwell · near
36,750 median HH income
49.0% of the leader · rank #3
Marston · this city
36,761
Marston · this city
36,761 median HH income
49.0% of the leader · rank #4
Garrison · near
36,765
Garrison · near
36,765 median HH income
49.0% of the leader · rank #5
Lafe · near
36,771
Lafe · near
36,771 median HH income
49.0% of the leader · rank #6
Forsan · highest
75,000
Forsan · highest
75,000 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 Marston 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: 439.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Marston places in the 6th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
6th
percentile, household income
2nd
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: Marston, MO
Missouri's Marston is a small town, with 439 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Marston households earn a median of $36,761 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 10.6%. Typical homes in Marston are valued around $69,000, and the median resident age is 36.2 years. About 4.3% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 50.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 0 residential units authorized here in 2024 (No Permits).
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. Monthly utility costs average around $219 across Missouri, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. 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 Marston'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 comparison shortlist to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Marston, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, annual population history, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Is Marston growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -29 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -7.4% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Marston?
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 1.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 10.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Marston?
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 Atlanta (439 residents, $56,500 income); Kidder (439 residents, $58,125 income); Lewistown (436 residents, $53,500 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Whitesburg, GA (439 residents); White City, KS (439 residents); Sterling, MI (439 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 Marston?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 94.3%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 10.6% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
90.8 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Missouri average
F
City profile score · Marston, MO
31/100
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 F
10.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$36,761
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
4.3%
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).
Marston profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 83/100 (A-) · 90.8 index
Poverty rate: 37/100 (F) · 10.6%
Household income: 2/100 (F) · $36,761
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 4.3%
How does Marston compare to other US cities?
Here's how Marston stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income6% higher than other cities
Home value2% 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 Marston 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 Marston near the bottom of Missouri's cities
Among the 875 Missouri cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Marston ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Marston only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#739 of 842
12th percentile in Missouri
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 875
0th percentile in Missouri
Median Home Value
#713 of 833
14th percentile in Missouri
Poverty Rate
#411 of 875
52nd percentile in Missouri
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#795 of 875
9th 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
6th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Marston's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$69,000Among the most affordablemore affordable than 98% 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
Marston's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#1,226 of 15,516
More affordable than 92% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,183 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.9×, Marston sits in the affordable band:
national rank #1,226 of 15,516 and #1,183 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
$36,761Marston, MO median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Marston, 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 Marston, MO.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)4.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)10.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)50.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
439
Median Income
$36,761
Median Home Value
$69,000
Median Age
36.2
Poverty Rate
10.6%
Labor force participation
50.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
4.3%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Marston's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
391 residents
2021
385 residents
2022
376 residents
2023
369 residents
2024
365 residents
2025
362 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
94.3%
Carpool
4.4%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
0.0%
Other
1.3%
Based on 159 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 Marston. 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 Marston 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 Marston sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Marston 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 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.