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Place dossier plate
SheetTN-BURNS-TN · Burns, TN 1,746 pop · income 46th 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 Burns
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Burns on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Ridgely · lowest
24,412
Ridgely · lowest
24,412 median HH income
18.1% of the leader · rank #1
Burns · this city
67,321
Burns · this city
67,321 median HH income
49.9% of the leader · rank #2
Fort Green · near
67,321
Fort Green · near
67,321 median HH income
49.9% of the leader · rank #3
Buffalo · near
67,321
Buffalo · near
67,321 median HH income
49.9% of the leader · rank #4
Elba · near
67,321
Elba · near
67,321 median HH income
49.9% of the leader · rank #5
Starrucca · near
67,321
Starrucca · near
67,321 median HH income
49.9% of the leader · rank #6
Walden · highest
135,000
Walden · highest
135,000 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 Burns 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: 1,746.
Nationally, Burns sits in the 46th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
46th
percentile, household income
62nd
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: Burns, TN
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 1,746 residents in Burns, a small town within Tennessee. The typical household in Burns brings in $67,321 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 7.0%. Typical homes in Burns are valued around $285,600, and the median resident age is 41.2 years. Educational attainment runs 19.5% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 67.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 15 residential building permits were authorized in Burns (Construction Slowdown), down 67% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data.
Living costs in Tennessee run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Tennessee scores 91.9 (Well Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,118 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Tennessee run around $218, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Natural-hazard exposure scores 52.5 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Burns'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 housing and income to schools and households to 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 Burns, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, local building permits, annual population history, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Is Burns growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +302 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +18.8% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 15 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Burns?
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 4.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 7.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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.
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 19.5% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Burns?
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 Unionville (1,751 residents, $76,671 income); Loretto (1,757 residents, $51,771 income); Walden (1,762 residents, $135,000 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Glenwood, AR (1,746 residents); Deshler, OH (1,746 residents); Union Point, GA (1,745 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.
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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Burns?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 77.5%. 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.
Drive alone
77.5%
Work from home
7.9%
Public transit
0.9%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 896 workers age 16+.
Below median income · poverty 7.0% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
91.9 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Tennessee average
C-
City profile score · Burns, TN
53/100
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.
Poverty rate C-
7.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income D
$67,321
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
19.5%
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).
Burns profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 78/100 (B+) · 91.9 index
Poverty rate: 53/100 (C-) · 7.0%
Household income: 45/100 (D) · $67,321
Bachelor's+ share: 33/100 (F) · 19.5%
How does Burns compare to other US cities?
Here's how Burns stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income46% higher than other cities
Home value62% pricier than other cities
Median rent34% 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 Burns 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 Burns near the bottom of Tennessee's cities
Among the 482 Tennessee cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Burns ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Burns only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#144 of 458
69th percentile in Tennessee
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 482
0th percentile in Tennessee
Median Home Value
#81 of 455
82nd percentile in Tennessee
Poverty Rate
#305 of 482
37th percentile in Tennessee
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#195 of 482
59th 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.
Gauge source note
46th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Burns's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$285,60038th percentilemore affordable than 38% 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
Burns's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#11,363 of 15,516
More affordable than 27% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#8,787 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.2×, Burns sits in the moderate band:
national rank #11,363 of 15,516 and #8,787 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
$67,321Burns, TN median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Burns, 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 Burns, TN.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)19.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)7.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)67.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,746
Median Income
$67,321
Median Home Value
$285,600
Median Age
41.2
Poverty Rate
7.0%
Labor force participation
67.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
19.5%
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Burns's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,608 residents
2021
1,695 residents
2022
1,779 residents
2023
1,818 residents
2024
1,878 residents
2025
1,910 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
15
housing units authorized
Single-Family
3
detached homes
Multifamily
12
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
8.6
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
45
45
0
$6.1M
2020
42
42
0
$6.3M
2021
51
51
0
$7.4M
2022
23
23
0
$5.5M
2023
26
26
0
$7.2M
2024
15
3
12
$2.7M
Permit volume decreased 67% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
77.5%
Carpool
9.2%
Public Transit
0.9%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
7.9%
Other
4.5%
Based on 896 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 Burns. 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 Burns 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 Burns sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Burns 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.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NCES CCD, 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.