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Place dossier plate
SheetNJ-MILFORD-NJ · Milford, NJ 1,306 pop · income 69th 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 Milford
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Milford on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Boston · lowest
40,156
Boston · lowest
40,156 median HH income
16.1% of the leader · rank #1
Tres Arroyos · near
88,289
Tres Arroyos · near
88,289 median HH income
35.3% of the leader · rank #2
Glen Burnie · near
88,291
Glen Burnie · near
88,291 median HH income
35.3% of the leader · rank #3
Orient · near
88,293
Orient · near
88,293 median HH income
35.3% of the leader · rank #4
Milford · this city
88,295
Milford · this city
88,295 median HH income
35.3% of the leader · rank #5
Buffalo · near
88,306
Buffalo · near
88,306 median HH income
35.3% of the leader · rank #6
Brookside · highest
250,001
Brookside · highest
250,001 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 Milford 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: 1,306.
Milford ranks in the 69th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
69th
percentile, household income
66th
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: Milford, NJ
1,306 people live in Milford, New Jersey - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $88,295 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 4.7%. Typical homes in Milford are valued around $304,100, and the median resident age is 43.1 years. About 39.7% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 58.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 1 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Low Activity).
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. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $2,132 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts New Jersey's average monthly utility costs around $275 (state average). FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 90.8 out of 100 (Very High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Milford'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 schools and households to population change to housing and income to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Milford, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, local building permits, matched public-school count, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Milford?
Within New Jersey, the closest population matches are Brookside (1,287 residents, $250,000+ income); Newfoundland (1,281 residents, $127,674 income); Springfield (1,338 residents, $177,045 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are New Buffalo, MI (1,306 residents); Plattsburgh West, NY (1,306 residents); Duncannon, PA (1,306 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 NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 39.7% 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.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -2 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -0.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 1 housing units authorized in 2024. 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 Milford?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.7%, 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. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
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 Milford?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 69.1%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
1.9%
Work from home
17.6%
Drive alone
69.1%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 625 workers age 16+.
Above median income · poverty 4.7% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
108.8 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, New Jersey average
C
City profile score · Milford, NJ
55/100
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.
Bachelor's+ share B+
39.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income B-
$88,295
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate B-
4.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
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).
Milford profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 75/100 (B+) · 39.7%
Household income: 68/100 (B-) · $88,295
Poverty rate: 67/100 (B-) · 4.7%
Cost of living: 10/100 (F) · 108.8 index
How does Milford compare to other US cities?
Milford measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income69% higher than other cities
Home value66% 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 Milford 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 Milford near the bottom of New Jersey's cities
Among the 686 New Jersey cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Milford ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Milford only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#454 of 659
31st percentile in New Jersey
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 686
0th percentile in New Jersey
Median Home Value
#484 of 672
28th percentile in New Jersey
Poverty Rate
#248 of 680
63rd percentile in New Jersey
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#371 of 686
46th 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
69th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Milford's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$304,10034th percentilemore affordable than 34% 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
Milford's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#8,754 of 15,516
More affordable than 44% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,090 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.4×, Milford sits in the moderate band:
national rank #8,754 of 15,516 and #7,090 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
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
$88,295Milford, NJ median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Milford, 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 Milford, NJ.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)39.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)58.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,306
Median Income
$88,295
Median Home Value
$304,100
Median Age
43.1
Poverty Rate
4.7%
Labor force participation
58.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
39.7%
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
Milford's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,226 residents
2021
1,234 residents
2022
1,215 residents
2023
1,220 residents
2024
1,218 residents
2025
1,224 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Low Activity
Total Permits (2024)
1
housing units authorized
Single-Family
1
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.8
permits per 1,000 residents
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
1
1
0
$0.3M
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
69.1%
Carpool
9.3%
Public Transit
1.9%
Walk
1.8%
Work from Home
17.6%
Based on 625 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 Milford. 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 Milford 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 Milford sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Milford 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, 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.