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Place dossier plate
SheetPA-EAST-ALTOONA-PA · East Altoona, PA 334 pop · income 24th 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 East Altoona
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest East Altoona on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Newbern · lowest
36,346
Newbern · lowest
36,346 median HH income
41.3% of the leader · rank #1
East Altoona · this city
52,813
East Altoona · this city
52,813 median HH income
60.0% of the leader · rank #2
Blue Lake · near
52,813
Blue Lake · near
52,813 median HH income
60.0% of the leader · rank #3
Witt · near
52,813
Witt · near
52,813 median HH income
60.0% of the leader · rank #4
Geneva · near
52,813
Geneva · near
52,813 median HH income
60.0% of the leader · rank #5
Eldon · near
52,813
Eldon · near
52,813 median HH income
60.0% of the leader · rank #6
Defiance · highest
87,986
Defiance · highest
87,986 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 East Altoona 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: 334.
East Altoona ranks in the 24th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
24th
percentile, household income
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: East Altoona, PA
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 334 residents in East Altoona, a small town within Pennsylvania. The typical household in East Altoona brings in $52,813 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 54.9%. The median resident age is 32.2 years. About 15.4% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 59.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Pennsylvania run around $260, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. The average commute for East Altoona workers runs 34.4 minutes, with 100.0% driving alone and 0.0% working from home. 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 East Altoona'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 work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For East Altoona, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, annual population history; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for East Altoona?
Within Pennsylvania, the closest population matches are Defiance (335 residents, $87,986 income); Rosebud (333 residents, $60,521 income); East Smithfield (336 residents, $80,938 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Newbern, AL (334 residents); Hackberry, AZ (334 residents); Baldwin, IL (334 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.
What does the journey to work look like in East Altoona?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 100.0%. The reported mean trip to work is 34.4 minutes.
Low income · poverty 54.9% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.6 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Pennsylvania average
F
City profile score · East Altoona, PA
24/100
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.
Household income F
$52,813
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
15.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
54.9%
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).
East Altoona profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 50/100 (C-) · 97.6 index
Household income: 24/100 (F) · $52,813
Bachelor's+ share: 21/100 (F) · 15.4%
Poverty rate: 0/100 (F) · 54.9%
How does East Altoona compare to other US cities?
East Altoona measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income24% higher 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 East Altoona 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 East Altoona near the bottom of Pennsylvania's cities
Among the 1,865 Pennsylvania cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, East Altoona ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares East Altoona only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,372 of 1,765
22nd percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,865
0th percentile in Pennsylvania
Poverty Rate
#10 of 1,856
99th percentile in Pennsylvania
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,315 of 1,861
29th 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
24th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Income distribution context
$52,813East Altoona, PA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context East Altoona, 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 East Altoona, PA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)15.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)54.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)59.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
334
Median Income
$52,813
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
32.2
Poverty Rate
54.9%
Labor force participation
59.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
15.4%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
34.4 minutes
Drive Alone
100.0%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
0.0%
Based on 136 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 East Altoona. 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 East Altoona 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 East Altoona sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How East Altoona 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 ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.