City profile · New Jersey · Census ACS 2023

Rio Grande, NJ

Rio Grande's Census ACS profile: residents, income, housing, and the joined public-record layers available for this place.

3,285
Residents
$97,590
Median income
$311,900
Median home
$2,132
Median rent (state)
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See how it ranks

State rank, size-class rank, and four peer cities for Rio Grande.

Place dossier plate

Sheet NJ-RIO-GRANDE-NJ · Rio Grande, NJ 3,285 pop · income 76th pct

POP-VILLAGE · INC-HIGH · COL-ABOVE · SAFE-UNK · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · HOME-MID · BOOK-UNK

  • POP-VILLAGE 3,285
  • INC-HIGH $97,590
  • COL-ABOVE 108.8
  • SAFE-UNK Safety pending
  • RANK-UPPER 76th
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Avon
  • HOME-MID $311,900
  • BOOK-UNK Tracts pending

Nearest income peer: Avon, IN ( $1 income $)

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 Rio Grande

Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Rio Grande on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.

median HH income

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.

Source U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 5-Year Estimates As of 2026-08-08

Compare beyond this state

Nationwide peers by population, income

Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Rio Grande 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: 3,285.

4 peers

Similar household income

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS median household income. This city: $97,590. Population peers are excluded.

4 peers

Rio Grande - the verdict

Nationally, Rio Grande sits in the 76th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.

76th
percentile, household income
67th
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: Rio Grande, NJ

Rio Grande is a small town in New Jersey, home to 3,285 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Rio Grande households earn a median of $97,590 annually, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 4.1%. Typical homes in Rio Grande are valued around $311,900, and the median resident age is 51.6 years. Educational attainment runs 28.0% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 45.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.

New Jersey carries a cost-of-living premium: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts New Jersey at 108.8 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Above Average). 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 Rio Grande'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 Rio Grande, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares. No matched row is reported here for annual population history, local building permits, matched public-school count, 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

What does the journey to work look like in Rio Grande?

Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 71.8%. 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. 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.

Compare commute patterns →

2. Housing and income

How far does income reach against housing in Rio Grande?

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.

The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.1%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.

Compare the housing trade-off →

3. Comparison shortlist

Which cities make useful reference points for Rio Grande?

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 New Jersey, the closest population matches are Port Monmouth (3,285 residents, $106,677 income); Union (3,284 residents, $127,411 income); Hamburg (3,293 residents, $90,655 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Warrensburg, NY (3,285 residents); Union Springs, AL (3,287 residents); Paris, AR (3,287 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.

Open a side-by-side comparison →

Population

3,285 residents

Micro place (under 10k)

Median Household Income

$97,590 /yr

High income · poverty 4.1% (Below-median poverty)

Cost of Living Index (state)

108.8 (US=100)

High cost · BEA RPP 2024, New Jersey average

City profile score · Rio Grande, NJ

54/100

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.

Household income B+
$97,590

Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.

Poverty rate B
4.1%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.

Bachelor's+ share C-
28.0%

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).

Rio Grande profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions) 4-axis radar comparing 1 series across Household income, Poverty rate, Bachelor's+ share, Cost of living. Household incomePoverty rateBachelor's+ shareCost of living 54 C-
Rio Grande profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)
Read the chart values
  • Household income: 76/100 (B+) · $97,590
  • Poverty rate: 71/100 (B) · 4.1%
  • Bachelor's+ share: 54/100 (C-) · 28.0%
  • Cost of living: 10/100 (F) · 108.8 index

How does Rio Grande compare to other US cities?

Where Rio Grande sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.

Household income 76% higher than other cities
Home value 67% pricier than other cities
Median rent 94% 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 Rio Grande 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 Rio Grande near the bottom of New Jersey's cities

Among the 686 New Jersey cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Rio Grande ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Rio Grande only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.

Median Household Income
#400 of 659
39th percentile in New Jersey
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 686
0th percentile in New Jersey
Median Home Value
#473 of 672
29th percentile in New Jersey
Poverty Rate
#280 of 680
58th percentile in New Jersey
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#506 of 686
26th 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.

76thIncome percentile
Gauge source note

76th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.

How Rio Grande's home value compares nationally

Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)

$311,900 33rd percentile more affordable than 33% of 15,600 US cities

Show national distribution $0–$25,000: 5 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $25,000–$50,000: 54 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $50,000–$75,000: 352 US cities (2%). Below this entry. $75,000–$100,000: 1,086 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $100,000–$125,000: 1,516 US cities (10%). Below this entry. $125,000–$150,000: 1,170 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $150,000–$175,000: 1,278 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $175,000–$200,000: 1,229 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $200,000–$225,000: 1,035 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $225,000–$250,000: 976 US cities (6%). Below this entry. $250,000–$275,000: 754 US cities (5%). Below this entry. $275,000–$300,000: 712 US cities (5%). Below this entry. $300,000–$325,000: 521 US cities (3%). This entry sits in this band. $325,000–$350,000: 526 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $350,000–$375,000: 465 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $375,000–$400,000: 393 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $400,000–$425,000: 317 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $425,000–$450,000: 300 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $450,000–$475,000: 307 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $475,000–$500,000: 250 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $500,000–$525,000: 160 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $525,000–$550,000: 156 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $550,000–$575,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $575,000–$600,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $600,000–$625,000: 163 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $625,000–$650,000: 167 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $650,000–$675,000: 135 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $675,000–$700,000: 101 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $700,000–$725,000: 95 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $725,000–$750,000: 71 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $750,000–$775,000: 65 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $775,000–$800,000: 70 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $800,000–$825,000: 57 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $825,000–$850,000: 67 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $850,000–$875,000: 60 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $875,000–$900,000: 58 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $900,000–$925,000: 47 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $925,000–$950,000: 37 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $950,000–$975,000: 31 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $975,000–$1,000,000: 470 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $1,000,000–$1,025,000: 0 US cities (0%). Above this entry. Rio Grande $0 $1,025,000 every US city, bucketed by value

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

Rio Grande's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.2×

ACS median home value divided by median household income.

Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#7,672 of 15,516
More affordable than 51% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#6,346 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)

At 3.2×, Rio Grande sits in the moderate band: national rank #7,672 of 15,516 and #6,346 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

$97,590 Rio Grande, NJ median household income (Census ACS)

Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Household income distribution - Rio Grande, NJ Rio Grande, NJ's median household income ($97,590) against the U.S. national quintile-share pattern. The Lorenz curve and quintile bars are national context, not Rio Grande, NJ-specific shares. $ Household Income Distribution Rio Grande, NJ median $97,590/yr, vs. U.S. national quintile pattern QUINTILE SHARE OF AGGREGATE INCOME Lowest 20% 3.4% Second 20% 9.2% Middle 20% 15.1% Fourth 20% 23.2% Top 20% 49.1% LORENZ CURVE cumulative income vs. population 100% 0% 100% pop. 0%
Rio Grande, 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 Rio Grande, NJ.

Key socioeconomic indicators

Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+) 28.0%

Census ACS S1501, educational attainment

Poverty rate (households below FPL) 4.1%

Census ACS S1701, poverty status

Labor force participation (adults 16+) 45.3%

Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force

Population
3,285
Median Income
$97,590
Median Home Value
$311,900
Median Age
51.6
Poverty Rate
4.1%
Labor force participation
45.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
28.0%

Commute Patterns

Commute source

How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023

Drive Alone
71.8%
Carpool
5.0%
Public Transit
0.3%
Walk
7.2%
Work from Home
8.2%
Other
7.5%

Based on 1,190 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 Rio Grande. 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 Rio Grande 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 Rio Grande sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.

How Rio Grande 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.

City Population Median Household Income
Rio Grande (this city) 3,285 $97,590
Port Monmouth 3,285 $106,677
Union 3,284 $127,411
Hamburg 3,293 $90,655
Primary sources on this page

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.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Citation & verification links Data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCities

Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES. Joins use OMB Bulletin 23-01 / FIPS keys.

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Estimate caveats

ACS and UCR figures are citywide estimates with vintage lags; they do not replace a local visit, school visit, or insurance quote.

Editorial standards, provenance, and how to cite this page

Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

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