Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetNJ-MALAGA-NJ · Malaga, NJ 1,612 pop · income 82nd 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 Malaga
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Malaga on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Hato Candal c… · lowest
16,849
Hato Candal c… · lowest
16,849 median HH income
12.3% of the leader · rank #1
Bethlehem · near
107,838
Bethlehem · near
107,838 median HH income
78.7% of the leader · rank #2
Mount Juliet · near
107,847
Mount Juliet · near
107,847 median HH income
78.7% of the leader · rank #3
Audubon Park · near
107,865
Audubon Park · near
107,865 median HH income
78.7% of the leader · rank #4
Malaga · this city
107,875
Malaga · this city
107,875 median HH income
78.7% of the leader · rank #5
Lockport Heig… · near
107,875
Lockport Heig… · near
107,875 median HH income
78.7% of the leader · rank #6
South Dennis · highest
137,083
South Dennis · highest
137,083 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 Malaga 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: 1,612.
Malaga ranks in the 82nd percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
82nd
percentile, household income
50th
percentile, home value
94th
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: Malaga, NJ
1,612 people live in Malaga, New Jersey - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Malaga report a median income of $107,875 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 2.3%. Typical homes in Malaga are valued around $228,500, and the median resident age is 37.4 years. Educational attainment runs 13.1% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 56.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
New Jersey carries a cost-of-living premium: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, New Jersey scores 108.8 (Well Above Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $2,132 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $275 across New Jersey, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Natural-hazard exposure scores 90.8 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Very High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Malaga'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 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 Malaga, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for annual population history, matched public-school count, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; 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 Malaga?
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 87.6%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
How far does income reach against housing in Malaga?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.3%, 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 Malaga?
Within New Jersey, the closest population matches are Estell Manor (1,612 residents, $107,417 income); Frenchtown (1,609 residents, $107,969 income); Dover Beaches North (1,599 residents, $52,417 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Appalachia, VA (1,612 residents); Norris City, IL (1,613 residents); Lovelock, NV (1,611 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.
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.
Poverty rate A-
2.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income A-
$107,875
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
13.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living F
108.8 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Malaga profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 84/100 (A-) · 2.3%
Household income: 80/100 (A-) · $107,875
Bachelor's+ share: 15/100 (F) · 13.1%
Cost of living: 10/100 (F) · 108.8 index
How does Malaga compare to other US cities?
Malaga measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income82% higher than other cities
Home value50% pricier than other cities
Median rent94% 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 Malaga against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to New Jersey only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
New Jersey-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Malaga near the bottom of New Jersey's cities
Among the 686 New Jersey cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Malaga ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Malaga only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#311 of 659
53rd percentile in New Jersey
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 686
0th percentile in New Jersey
Median Home Value
#582 of 672
13th percentile in New Jersey
Poverty Rate
#394 of 680
40th percentile in New Jersey
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#648 of 686
5th percentile in New Jersey
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 New Jersey only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
82nd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Malaga's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$228,500Among the most affordablemore affordable than 50% 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
Malaga's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.1×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#2,077 of 15,516
More affordable than 87% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,966 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.1×, Malaga sits in the affordable band:
national rank #2,077 of 15,516 and #1,966 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
$107,875Malaga, NJ median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Malaga, NJ median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Malaga, NJ.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)13.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)2.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)56.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,612
Median Income
$107,875
Median Home Value
$228,500
Median Age
37.4
Poverty Rate
2.3%
Labor force participation
56.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
13.1%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
87.6%
Carpool
12.4%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
0.0%
Based on 743 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
New Jersey statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $275
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across New Jersey at $275 (electricity about $120 , water and sewer about $60 ).
These are New Jersey statewide averages, not a meter reading for Malaga. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
New Jersey's BEA cost-of-living index is 108.8 (Well Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Malaga is $2,132/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to New Jersey statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 90.8 / 100 (Very High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a New Jersey statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Malaga sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Malaga compares to similar-size New Jersey 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.