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Place dossier plate
SheetPA-BRIAR-CREEK-PA · Briar Creek, PA 896 pop · income 4th 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 Briar Creek
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Briar Creek on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Briar Creek · this city · lowest
34,643
Briar Creek · this city · lowest
34,643 median HH income
21.4% of the leader · rank #1
Brookford · near
34,643
Brookford · near
34,643 median HH income
21.4% of the leader · rank #2
Decherd · near
34,646
Decherd · near
34,646 median HH income
21.4% of the leader · rank #3
Meridian · near
34,657
Meridian · near
34,657 median HH income
21.4% of the leader · rank #4
Greenwood · near
34,659
Greenwood · near
34,659 median HH income
21.4% of the leader · rank #5
Glenmoore · highest
161,818
Glenmoore · highest
161,818 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 Briar Creek 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: 896.
Briar Creek ranks in the 4th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
4th
percentile, household income
31st
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: Briar Creek, PA
896 people live in Briar Creek, Pennsylvania - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Briar Creek brings in $34,643 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 43.1%. Home values in Briar Creek run a median of $162,500, and the median resident age is 32.6 years. About 14.5% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 37.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 2 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Building Boom), up 100% from five years earlier.
Pennsylvania tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: the state registers 97.6 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Near Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,225 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Pennsylvania's average monthly utility costs around $260 (state average). Natural-hazard exposure scores 67.4 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Briar Creek'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 housing and income to comparison shortlist to population change to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Briar Creek, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares, local building permits.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Briar Creek?
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. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 43.1%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Briar Creek?
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 Pennsylvania, the closest population matches are Rennerdale (896 residents, $84,044 income); Glenmoore (898 residents, $161,818 income); Shinglehouse (898 residents, $41,250 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Hauser, ID (896 residents); Spiceland, IN (896 residents); Benton, KS (896 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.
Is Briar Creek growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +12 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.0% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 2 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 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Briar Creek?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 82.3%. 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.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 43.1% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.6 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Pennsylvania average
F
City profile score · Briar Creek, PA
16/100
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.
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.
Bachelor's+ share F
14.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$34,643
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
43.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Briar Creek profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 50/100 (C-) · 97.6 index
Bachelor's+ share: 19/100 (F) · 14.5%
Household income: 0/100 (F) · $34,643
Poverty rate: 0/100 (F) · 43.1%
How does Briar Creek compare to other US cities?
Where Briar Creek sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income4% higher than other cities
Home value31% 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 Briar Creek 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 Briar Creek near the bottom of Pennsylvania's cities
Among the 1,865 Pennsylvania cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Briar Creek ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Briar Creek only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,733 of 1,765
2nd percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,865
0th percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Home Value
#946 of 1,790
47th percentile in Pennsylvania
Poverty Rate
#26 of 1,856
99th percentile in Pennsylvania
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,387 of 1,861
25th 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
4th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Briar Creek's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$162,500Among the most affordablemore affordable than 69% 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
Briar Creek's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#12,371 of 15,516
More affordable than 20% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#9,426 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.7×, Briar Creek sits in the moderate band:
national rank #12,371 of 15,516 and #9,426 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
$34,643Briar Creek, PA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Briar Creek, 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 Briar Creek, PA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)14.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)43.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)37.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
896
Median Income
$34,643
Median Home Value
$162,500
Median Age
32.6
Poverty Rate
43.1%
Labor force participation
37.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
14.5%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Briar Creek's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
596 residents
2021
599 residents
2022
598 residents
2023
604 residents
2024
604 residents
2025
608 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
2
housing units authorized
Single-Family
2
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
2.2
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
1
1
0
$0.2M
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
1
1
0
$0.3M
2022
2
2
0
$0.4M
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
2
2
0
$0.5M
Permit volume increased 100% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
82.3%
Carpool
4.0%
Public Transit
2.8%
Walk
4.8%
Work from Home
4.4%
Other
1.7%
Based on 248 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 Briar Creek. 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 Briar Creek 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 Briar Creek sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Briar Creek 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, 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.