Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetPA-MUSE-PA · Muse, PA 2,687 pop · income 82nd 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 Muse
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Muse on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
East Tawas · lowest
41,619
East Tawas · lowest
41,619 median HH income
23.3% of the leader · rank #1
Muse · this city
108,542
Muse · this city
108,542 median HH income
60.9% of the leader · rank #2
Westphalia · near
108,542
Westphalia · near
108,542 median HH income
60.9% of the leader · rank #3
Berkeley · near
108,558
Berkeley · near
108,558 median HH income
60.9% of the leader · rank #4
Yarmouth Port · near
108,563
Yarmouth Port · near
108,563 median HH income
60.9% of the leader · rank #5
Westcreek · near
108,571
Westcreek · near
108,571 median HH income
60.9% of the leader · rank #6
Woodside · highest
178,333
Woodside · highest
178,333 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 Muse 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: 2,687.
Muse ranks in the 82nd percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
82nd
percentile, household income
73rd
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: Muse, PA
2,687 people live in Muse, Pennsylvania - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Muse households earn a median of $108,542 annually, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 4.1%. Home values in Muse run a median of $357,600, and the median resident age is 35.2 years. Educational attainment runs 41.7% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 69.4% 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: the state registers 97.6 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Near Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,225 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $260 across Pennsylvania, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. The average commute for Muse workers runs 23.3 minutes, with 60.7% driving alone and 20.8% 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 Muse'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 housing and income to work and mobility to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Muse, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Muse?
Within Pennsylvania, the closest population matches are Muncy (2,687 residents, $84,096 income); Colwyn (2,683 residents, $53,092 income); Evansburg (2,692 residents, $117,790 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Sutter Creek, CA (2,687 residents); Haverhill, FL (2,687 residents); East Tawas, MI (2,686 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Muse?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.1%, 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.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 60.7%. The reported mean trip to work is 23.3 minutes.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 41.7% 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.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Pennsylvania average
B
City profile score · Muse, PA
70/100
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.
Household income A-
$108,542
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share B+
41.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate B
4.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
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.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Muse profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 81/100 (A-) · $108,542
Bachelor's+ share: 77/100 (B+) · 41.7%
Poverty rate: 71/100 (B) · 4.1%
Cost of living: 50/100 (C-) · 97.6 index
How does Muse compare to other US cities?
Here's how Muse stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income82% higher than other cities
Home value73% 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 Muse 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 Muse near the bottom of Pennsylvania's cities
Among the 1,865 Pennsylvania cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Muse ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Muse only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#187 of 1,765
89th percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,865
0th percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Home Value
#135 of 1,790
92nd percentile in Pennsylvania
Poverty Rate
#1,093 of 1,856
41st percentile in Pennsylvania
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#264 of 1,861
86th 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
82nd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Muse's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$357,60027th percentilemore affordable than 27% 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
Muse's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#8,101 of 15,516
More affordable than 48% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#6,636 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.3×, Muse sits in the moderate band:
national rank #8,101 of 15,516 and #6,636 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
$108,542Muse, PA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Muse, 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 Muse, PA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)41.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)69.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,687
Median Income
$108,542
Median Home Value
$357,600
Median Age
35.2
Poverty Rate
4.1%
Labor force participation
69.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
41.7%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
23.3 minutes
Drive Alone
60.7%
Carpool
15.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.4%
Work from Home
20.8%
Based on 1,521 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 Muse. 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 Muse 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 Muse sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Muse 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.