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Place dossier plate
SheetPA-FAIRCHANCE-PA · Fairchance, PA 1,429 pop · income 7th 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 Fairchance
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Fairchance on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Berino · lowest
37,614
Berino · lowest
37,614 median HH income
40.7% of the leader · rank #1
Stafford · near
38,424
Stafford · near
38,424 median HH income
41.6% of the leader · rank #2
Fairchance · this city
38,427
Fairchance · this city
38,427 median HH income
41.6% of the leader · rank #3
Cloudcroft · near
38,428
Cloudcroft · near
38,428 median HH income
41.6% of the leader · rank #4
Pablo · near
38,430
Pablo · near
38,430 median HH income
41.6% of the leader · rank #5
Burns · near
38,430
Burns · near
38,430 median HH income
41.6% of the leader · rank #6
Fairmount Hei… · highest
92,321
Fairmount Hei… · highest
92,321 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 Fairchance 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: 1,429.
Fairchance ranks in the 7th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
7th
percentile, household income
30th
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: Fairchance, PA
Pennsylvania's Fairchance is a small town, with 1,429 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Fairchance households earn a median of $38,427 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 23.3%. Fairchance's housing stock carries a median value of $159,000, and the median resident age is 49.2 years. 15.8% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 52.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 1 public schools according to NCES Common Core of 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). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,225 per month statewide. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Pennsylvania run around $260, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. 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 Fairchance'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 population change to comparison shortlist to schools and households to work and mobility to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Fairchance, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Population change
Is Fairchance growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -77 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -4.1% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Which cities make useful reference points for Fairchance?
Within Pennsylvania, the closest population matches are Montrose (1,427 residents, $56,484 income); Hometown (1,426 residents, $88,333 income); Westwood CDP (Chester County) (1,432 residents, $79,953 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Coats Bend, AL (1,429 residents); Omao, HI (1,429 residents); Fairmount Heights, MD (1,429 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 education layer cover for Fairchance?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 15.8% 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 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Fairchance?
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 88.1%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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 Fairchance?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 23.3%, 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. 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.
Household income
$38,427
Home value
$159,000
Value / income
4.1×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 23.3% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.6 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Pennsylvania average
F
City profile score · Fairchance, PA
20/100
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
15.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
23.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$38,427
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).
Fairchance profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 50/100 (C-) · 97.6 index
Bachelor's+ share: 22/100 (F) · 15.8%
Poverty rate: 8/100 (F) · 23.3%
Household income: 5/100 (F) · $38,427
How does Fairchance compare to other US cities?
Fairchance measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income7% higher than other cities
Home value30% 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 Fairchance 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 Fairchance near the bottom of Pennsylvania's cities
Among the 1,865 Pennsylvania cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Fairchance ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Fairchance only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,707 of 1,765
3rd percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,865
0th percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Home Value
#984 of 1,790
45th percentile in Pennsylvania
Poverty Rate
#111 of 1,856
94th percentile in Pennsylvania
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,287 of 1,861
31st 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
7th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Fairchance's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$159,000Among the most affordablemore affordable than 70% 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
Fairchance's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.1×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#11,077 of 15,516
More affordable than 29% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#8,608 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.1×, Fairchance sits in the moderate band:
national rank #11,077 of 15,516 and #8,608 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
$38,427Fairchance, PA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Fairchance, 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 Fairchance, PA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)15.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)23.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)52.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,429
Median Income
$38,427
Median Home Value
$159,000
Median Age
49.2
Poverty Rate
23.3%
Labor force participation
52.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
15.8%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Fairchance's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,864 residents
2021
1,845 residents
2022
1,825 residents
2023
1,811 residents
2024
1,800 residents
2025
1,787 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
88.1%
Carpool
7.4%
Public Transit
1.1%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
1.6%
Other
1.8%
Based on 624 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 Fairchance. 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 Fairchance 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 Fairchance sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Fairchance 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 ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.