City profile · Tennessee · Census ACS 2023

Bell Buckle, TN

Bell Buckle's Census ACS profile: residents, income, housing, and the joined public-record layers available for this place.

654
Residents
$83,452
Median income
$321,400
Median home
$1,118
Median rent (state)
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State rank, size-class rank, and four peer cities for Bell Buckle.

Place dossier plate

Sheet TN-BELL-BUCKLE-TN · Bell Buckle, TN 654 pop · income 65th pct

POP-VILLAGE · INC-HIGH · COL-BELOW · SAFE-UNK · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · HOME-MID · BOOK-UNK

  • POP-VILLAGE 654
  • INC-HIGH $83,452
  • COL-BELOW 91.9
  • SAFE-UNK Safety pending
  • RANK-UPPER 65th
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Rocky Point
  • HOME-MID $321,400
  • BOOK-UNK Tracts pending

Nearest income peer: Rocky Point, WA (+ $4 income $)

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 Bell Buckle

Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Bell Buckle on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.

median HH income

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.

Source U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 5-Year Estimates As of 2026-08-08

Compare beyond this state

Nationwide peers by population, income

Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Bell Buckle 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: 654.

4 peers

Similar household income

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS median household income. This city: $83,452. Population peers are excluded.

4 peers

Bell Buckle - the verdict

Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Bell Buckle lands in the 65th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.

65th
percentile, household income
68th
percentile, home value
34th
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: Bell Buckle, TN

Tennessee's Bell Buckle is a small town, with 654 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Bell Buckle households earn a median of $83,452 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 6.2%. Home values in Bell Buckle run a median of $321,400, and the median resident age is 31.1 years. About 26.3% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 78.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.

Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 0 residential units were authorized in 2024 (No Permits), down 100% from five years earlier.

Living costs in Tennessee run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Tennessee at 91.9 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,118 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $218 across Tennessee, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 52.5 out of 100 (Low).

A decision-led reading path

Useful questions to ask of Bell Buckle'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 work and mobility to population change to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.

For Bell Buckle, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, local building permits, commute-mode shares. No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates; 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 Bell Buckle?

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.

The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 6.2%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.

Compare the housing trade-off →

Question 2

What does the journey to work look like in Bell Buckle?

Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 61.9%. 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. 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.

Compare commute patterns →

Question 3

Is Bell Buckle growing, shrinking, or holding steady?

Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +8 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.9% 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.

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.

See the national growth ranking →

4. Comparison shortlist

Which cities make useful reference points for Bell Buckle?

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 Tennessee, the closest population matches are Adams (655 residents, $66,250 income); Chesterfield (650 residents, $58,929 income); Castalian Springs (648 residents, $86,071 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Roosevelt Estates, AZ (654 residents); Radcliffe, IA (654 residents); Byron, MI (654 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.

Open a side-by-side comparison →

Population

654 residents

Micro place (under 10k)

Median Household Income

$83,452 /yr

Above median income · poverty 6.2% (Below-median poverty)

Cost of Living Index (state)

91.9 (US=100)

Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Tennessee average

City profile score · Bell Buckle, TN

63/100

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 B+
91.9 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 C+
$83,452

Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.

Poverty rate C
6.2%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.

Bachelor's+ share C-
26.3%

Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.

Violent crime N/A
N/A

No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).

Bell Buckle profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions) 4-axis radar comparing 1 series across Cost of living, Household income, Poverty rate, Bachelor's+ share. Cost of livingHousehold incomePoverty rateBachelor's+ share 63 C+
Bell Buckle profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)
Read the chart values
  • Cost of living: 78/100 (B+) · 91.9 index
  • Household income: 63/100 (C+) · $83,452
  • Poverty rate: 58/100 (C) · 6.2%
  • Bachelor's+ share: 52/100 (C-) · 26.3%

How does Bell Buckle compare to other US cities?

Where Bell Buckle sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.

Household income 65% higher than other cities
Home value 68% pricier than other cities
Median rent 34% 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 Bell Buckle against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Tennessee only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.

Tennessee-relative analysis

Median Gross Rent places Bell Buckle near the bottom of Tennessee's cities

Among the 482 Tennessee cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Bell Buckle ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Bell Buckle only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.

Median Household Income
#76 of 458
83rd percentile in Tennessee
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 482
0th percentile in Tennessee
Median Home Value
#60 of 455
87th percentile in Tennessee
Poverty Rate
#317 of 482
34th percentile in Tennessee
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#122 of 482
75th percentile in Tennessee
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 Tennessee only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.

65thIncome percentile
Gauge source note

65th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.

How Bell Buckle's home value compares nationally

Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)

$321,400 32nd percentile more affordable than 32% of 15,600 US cities

Show national distribution $0–$25,000: 5 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $25,000–$50,000: 54 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $50,000–$75,000: 352 US cities (2%). Below this entry. $75,000–$100,000: 1,086 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $100,000–$125,000: 1,516 US cities (10%). Below this entry. $125,000–$150,000: 1,170 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $150,000–$175,000: 1,278 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $175,000–$200,000: 1,229 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $200,000–$225,000: 1,035 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $225,000–$250,000: 976 US cities (6%). Below this entry. $250,000–$275,000: 754 US cities (5%). Below this entry. $275,000–$300,000: 712 US cities (5%). Below this entry. $300,000–$325,000: 521 US cities (3%). This entry sits in this band. $325,000–$350,000: 526 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $350,000–$375,000: 465 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $375,000–$400,000: 393 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $400,000–$425,000: 317 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $425,000–$450,000: 300 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $450,000–$475,000: 307 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $475,000–$500,000: 250 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $500,000–$525,000: 160 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $525,000–$550,000: 156 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $550,000–$575,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $575,000–$600,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $600,000–$625,000: 163 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $625,000–$650,000: 167 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $650,000–$675,000: 135 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $675,000–$700,000: 101 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $700,000–$725,000: 95 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $725,000–$750,000: 71 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $750,000–$775,000: 65 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $775,000–$800,000: 70 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $800,000–$825,000: 57 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $825,000–$850,000: 67 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $850,000–$875,000: 60 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $875,000–$900,000: 58 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $900,000–$925,000: 47 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $925,000–$950,000: 37 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $950,000–$975,000: 31 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $975,000–$1,000,000: 470 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $1,000,000–$1,025,000: 0 US cities (0%). Above this entry. Bell Buckle $0 $1,025,000 every US city, bucketed by value

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

Bell Buckle's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.9×

ACS median home value divided by median household income.

Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#10,227 of 15,516
More affordable than 34% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#8,061 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)

At 3.9×, Bell Buckle sits in the moderate band: national rank #10,227 of 15,516 and #8,061 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

$83,452 Bell Buckle, TN median household income (Census ACS)

Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Household income distribution - Bell Buckle, TN Bell Buckle, TN's median household income ($83,452) against the U.S. national quintile-share pattern. The Lorenz curve and quintile bars are national context, not Bell Buckle, TN-specific shares. $ Household Income Distribution Bell Buckle, TN median $83,452/yr, vs. U.S. national quintile pattern QUINTILE SHARE OF AGGREGATE INCOME Lowest 20% 3.4% Second 20% 9.2% Middle 20% 15.1% Fourth 20% 23.2% Top 20% 49.1% LORENZ CURVE cumulative income vs. population 100% 0% 100% pop. 0%
Bell Buckle, TN median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Bell Buckle, TN.

Key socioeconomic indicators

Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+) 26.3%

Census ACS S1501, educational attainment

Poverty rate (households below FPL) 6.2%

Census ACS S1701, poverty status

Labor force participation (adults 16+) 78.0%

Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force

Population
654
Median Income
$83,452
Median Home Value
$321,400
Median Age
31.1
Poverty Rate
6.2%
Labor force participation
78.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
26.3%

Population Change

PEP vintage

Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025

See the fastest-growing cities →
405 residents410 residents415 residents420 residents425 residents430 residents 202020212022202320242025 411 residents 419 residents ▲ +1.9%
Bell Buckle's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.
Read the chart as text
Period Population
2020 411 residents
2021 416 residents
2022 419 residents
2023 424 residents
2024 424 residents
2025 419 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
2019 2
2020 2
2021 2
2022 2
2023 0
2024 0

Permit volume decreased 100% from 2019 to 2024.

Commute Patterns

Commute source

How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023

Drive Alone
61.9%
Carpool
4.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
15.2%
Work from Home
18.6%

Based on 381 workers 16 and over.

Monthly Utility Costs

Tennessee statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $218

EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Tennessee at $218 (electricity about $120 , water and sewer about $40 ).

These are Tennessee statewide averages, not a meter reading for Bell Buckle. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.

Living Costs & Risk

Tennessee's BEA cost-of-living index is 91.9 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Bell Buckle is $1,118/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Tennessee statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 52.5 / 100 (Low).

Cost/risk geography note

Cost of living is a Tennessee statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Bell Buckle sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.

How Bell Buckle compares to similar-size Tennessee 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.

City Population Median Household Income
Bell Buckle (this city) 654 $83,452
Adams 655 $66,250
Chesterfield 650 $58,929
Castalian Springs 648 $86,071
Census BPS 2024
Primary sources on this page

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.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Citation & verification links Data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCities

Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES. Joins use OMB Bulletin 23-01 / FIPS keys.

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Estimate caveats

ACS and UCR figures are citywide estimates with vintage lags; they do not replace a local visit, school visit, or insurance quote.

Editorial standards, provenance, and how to cite this page

Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

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