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Place dossier plate
SheetPA-BLOOMSBURG-PA · Bloomsburg, PA 12,906 pop · income 18th pct · 16 tracts
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 Bloomsburg
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Bloomsburg on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Jennings · lowest
37,356
Jennings · lowest
37,356 median HH income
23.5% of the leader · rank #1
Boswell · near
49,091
Boswell · near
49,091 median HH income
30.9% of the leader · rank #2
Ovid · near
49,094
Ovid · near
49,094 median HH income
30.9% of the leader · rank #3
Monsey · near
49,095
Monsey · near
49,095 median HH income
30.9% of the leader · rank #4
Bloomsburg · this city
49,096
Bloomsburg · this city
49,096 median HH income
30.9% of the leader · rank #5
Brilliant · near
49,100
Brilliant · near
49,100 median HH income
30.9% of the leader · rank #6
Sugarland Run · highest
158,977
Sugarland Run · highest
158,977 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 Bloomsburg 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: 12,906.
Nationally, Bloomsburg sits in the 18th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
18th
percentile, household income
38th
percentile, home value
54th
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: Bloomsburg, PA
Bloomsburg is a small town in Pennsylvania, home to 12,906 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $49,096 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 15.6%. Home values in Bloomsburg run a median of $186,100, and the median resident age is 24.4 years. About 33.1% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 48.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 0 residential building permits were authorized in Bloomsburg (No Permits), down 100% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data.
Pennsylvania tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Pennsylvania at 97.6 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Near Average). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,225 monthly. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Pennsylvania's average monthly utility costs around $260 (state average). FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 67.4 out of 100 (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Bloomsburg'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 schools and households to housing and income to within-city variation to comparison shortlist to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Bloomsburg, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, commute-mode shares, annual population history, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for 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 Bloomsburg?
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 69.2%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
What does the education layer cover for Bloomsburg?
The NCES join finds 9 public schools within the city match. 33.1% 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 city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
What can 16 Census tracts reveal inside Bloomsburg?
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
PlainCities matches 16 Census tracts to this city.
Which cities make useful reference points for Bloomsburg?
Within Pennsylvania, the closest population matches are Sharon (13,019 residents, $44,595 income); Meadville (12,723 residents, $46,012 income); St. Marys (12,612 residents, $64,471 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Waianae, HI (12,907 residents); Greenville, WI (12,911 residents); Jennings, MO (12,900 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.
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.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Bloomsburg?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 15.6%, 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.
Household income
$49,096
Home value
$186,100
Value / income
3.8×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Is Bloomsburg growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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 +671 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +5.3% 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.
Period change
+5.3%
2025 estimate
13,375
2020 estimate
12,704
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Pennsylvania average
F
City profile score · Bloomsburg, PA
35/100
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 C+
33.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living C-
97.6 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
15.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$49,096
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).
Bloomsburg profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 63/100 (C+) · 33.1%
Cost of living: 50/100 (C-) · 97.6 index
Poverty rate: 21/100 (F) · 15.6%
Household income: 19/100 (F) · $49,096
How does Bloomsburg compare to other US cities?
Here's how Bloomsburg stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income18% higher than other cities
Home value38% pricier than other cities
Median rent54% 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 Bloomsburg against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Pennsylvania only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Pennsylvania-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Bloomsburg near the bottom of Pennsylvania's cities
Among the 1,865 Pennsylvania cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Bloomsburg ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Bloomsburg only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,502 of 1,765
15th percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,865
0th percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Home Value
#755 of 1,790
58th percentile in Pennsylvania
Poverty Rate
#302 of 1,856
83rd percentile in Pennsylvania
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#452 of 1,861
76th percentile in Pennsylvania
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 Pennsylvania only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
18th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Bloomsburg's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$186,100Among the most affordablemore affordable than 62% 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
Bloomsburg's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#10,028 of 15,516
More affordable than 35% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,782 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 3.8×, Bloomsburg sits in the moderate band:
national rank #10,028 of 15,516 and #1,782 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
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
$49,096Bloomsburg, PA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Bloomsburg, PA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Bloomsburg, PA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)33.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)15.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)48.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
12,906
Median Income
$49,096
Median Home Value
$186,100
Median Age
24.4
Poverty Rate
15.6%
Labor force participation
48.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
33.1%
Schools
Total Schools
9
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Bloomsburg's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
12,704 residents
2021
12,776 residents
2022
13,137 residents
2023
13,269 residents
2024
13,368 residents
2025
13,375 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
4
2
2
$0.7M
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
2
2
0
$0.6M
2023
1
1
0
$0.3M
2024
0
0
0
-
Permit volume decreased 100% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
69.2%
Carpool
8.9%
Public Transit
0.9%
Walk
8.7%
Work from Home
12.3%
Based on 5,580 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Pennsylvania statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $260
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Pennsylvania at $260 (electricity about $120 , water and sewer about $52 ).
These are Pennsylvania statewide averages, not a meter reading for Bloomsburg. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Pennsylvania's BEA cost-of-living index is 97.6 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Bloomsburg is $1,225/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Pennsylvania statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 67.4 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Pennsylvania statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Bloomsburg sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Bloomsburg compares to similar-size Pennsylvania 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.