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Place dossier plate
SheetNY-BARKER-NY · Barker, NY 628 pop · income 23rd 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 Barker
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Barker on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Barker · this city · lowest
52,188
Barker · this city · lowest
52,188 median HH income
30.3% of the leader · rank #1
Grayling · near
52,188
Grayling · near
52,188 median HH income
30.3% of the leader · rank #2
Traver · near
52,188
Traver · near
52,188 median HH income
30.3% of the leader · rank #3
Iron City · near
52,188
Iron City · near
52,188 median HH income
30.3% of the leader · rank #4
Tiger · near
52,188
Tiger · near
52,188 median HH income
30.3% of the leader · rank #5
Taconic Shores · highest
172,514
Taconic Shores · highest
172,514 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #6
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 Barker 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: 628.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Barker places in the 23rd percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
23rd
percentile, household income
25th
percentile, home value
78th
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: Barker, NY
628 people live in Barker, New York - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Barker brings in $52,188 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 7.0%. Typical homes in Barker are valued around $143,200, and the median resident age is 35.0 years. About 13.5% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 53.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 0 residential units authorized here in 2024 (No Permits).
New York carries a cost-of-living premium: the state registers 107.9 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Above Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,579 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in New York run around $285, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Natural-hazard exposure scores 69.4 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Barker'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 population change to comparison shortlist to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Barker, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, annual population history, local building permits, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; 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 Barker?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 72.5%. 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Barker?
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 2.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 7.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -17 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.9% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Barker?
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 York, the closest population matches are Taconic Shores (629 residents, $172,514 income); Middleville (626 residents, $81,563 income); Forestville (625 residents). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Vicksburg, AZ (628 residents); Dustin Acres, CA (628 residents); Manton, CA (628 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.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Barker?
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 NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 13.5% 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.
Poverty estimate
7.0%
Bachelor's degree+
13.5%
Matched public schools
2
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
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 C-
7.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$52,188
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
13.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living F
107.9 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).
Barker profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 53/100 (C-) · 7.0%
Household income: 23/100 (F) · $52,188
Bachelor's+ share: 16/100 (F) · 13.5%
Cost of living: 12/100 (F) · 107.9 index
How does Barker compare to other US cities?
Here's how Barker stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income23% higher than other cities
Home value25% pricier than other cities
Median rent78% 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 Barker against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to New York only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
New York-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Barker near the bottom of New York's cities
Among the 1,256 New York cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Barker ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Barker only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,053 of 1,205
13th percentile in New York
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,256
0th percentile in New York
Median Home Value
#902 of 1,202
25th percentile in New York
Poverty Rate
#453 of 1,246
63rd percentile in New York
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,165 of 1,254
7th percentile in New York
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 York only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
23rd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Barker's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$143,200Among the most affordablemore affordable than 75% 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
Barker's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,279 of 15,516
More affordable than 66% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,605 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.7×, Barker sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,279 of 15,516 and #4,605 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
$52,188Barker, NY median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Barker, NY median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Barker, NY.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)13.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)7.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)53.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
628
Median Income
$52,188
Median Home Value
$143,200
Median Age
35.0
Poverty Rate
7.0%
Labor force participation
53.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
13.5%
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
Barker's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
583 residents
2021
581 residents
2022
573 residents
2023
570 residents
2024
568 residents
2025
566 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
72.5%
Carpool
2.9%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
10.0%
Work from Home
14.6%
Based on 240 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
New York statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $285
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across New York at $285 (electricity about $130 , water and sewer about $65 ).
These are New York statewide averages, not a meter reading for Barker. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
New York's BEA cost-of-living index is 107.9 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Barker is $1,579/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to New York statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 69.4 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a New York statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Barker sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Barker compares to similar-size New York 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.