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Place dossier plate
SheetMO-PURCELL-MO · Purcell, MO 354 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 Purcell
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Purcell on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Blythedale · lowest
36,818
Blythedale · lowest
36,818 median HH income
27.8% of the leader · rank #1
Purcell · this city
38,750
Purcell · this city
38,750 median HH income
29.2% of the leader · rank #2
Madrid · near
38,750
Madrid · near
38,750 median HH income
29.2% of the leader · rank #3
Scammon Bay · near
38,750
Scammon Bay · near
38,750 median HH income
29.2% of the leader · rank #4
Duncan · near
38,750
Duncan · near
38,750 median HH income
29.2% of the leader · rank #5
Holly Grove · near
38,750
Holly Grove · near
38,750 median HH income
29.2% of the leader · rank #6
King Salmon · highest
132,500
King Salmon · highest
132,500 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 Purcell 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: 354.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Purcell places in the 7th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
7th
percentile, household income
5th
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: Purcell, MO
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 354 residents in Purcell, a small town within Missouri. The typical household in Purcell brings in $38,750 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 21.4%. Home values in Purcell run a median of $84,600, and the median resident age is 42.9 years. About 11.4% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 51.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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. 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. 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 Purcell'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 work and mobility to population change to housing and income to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Purcell, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Purcell?
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 90.8%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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 +4 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.3% 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Purcell?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 21.4%, 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Purcell?
Within Missouri, the closest population matches are Kinloch (354 residents, $43,021 income); Gilman City (355 residents, $52,875 income); Farber (352 residents, $42,094 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Akron, AL (354 residents); King Salmon, AK (354 residents); Saxman, AK (354 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.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 21.4% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
90.8 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Missouri average
F
City profile score · Purcell, MO
27/100
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
21.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
11.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$38,750
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Purcell profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 83/100 (A-) · 90.8 index
Poverty rate: 11/100 (F) · 21.4%
Bachelor's+ share: 10/100 (F) · 11.4%
Household income: 5/100 (F) · $38,750
How does Purcell compare to other US cities?
Purcell measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income7% higher than other cities
Home value5% 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 Purcell 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 Purcell near the bottom of Missouri's cities
Among the 875 Missouri cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Purcell ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Purcell only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#711 of 842
15th percentile in Missouri
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 875
0th percentile in Missouri
Median Home Value
#610 of 833
27th percentile in Missouri
Poverty Rate
#146 of 875
83rd percentile in Missouri
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#585 of 875
33rd 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 Purcell's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$84,600Among the most affordablemore affordable than 95% 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
Purcell's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#2,382 of 15,516
More affordable than 85% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,240 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.2×, Purcell sits in the affordable band:
national rank #2,382 of 15,516 and #2,240 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
$38,750Purcell, MO median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Purcell, 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 Purcell, MO.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)11.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)21.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)51.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
354
Median Income
$38,750
Median Home Value
$84,600
Median Age
42.9
Poverty Rate
21.4%
Labor force participation
51.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
11.4%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Purcell's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
316 residents
2021
315 residents
2022
317 residents
2023
316 residents
2024
319 residents
2025
320 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
90.8%
Carpool
5.7%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
3.5%
Based on 141 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 Purcell. 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 Purcell 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 Purcell sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Purcell 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.