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Place dossier plate
SheetTN-PETERSBURG-TN · Petersburg, TN 579 pop · income 34th 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 Petersburg
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Petersburg on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Big Sandy · lowest
43,036
Big Sandy · lowest
43,036 median HH income
35.0% of the leader · rank #1
Mendota · near
58,939
Mendota · near
58,939 median HH income
47.9% of the leader · rank #2
Zebulon · near
58,940
Zebulon · near
58,940 median HH income
47.9% of the leader · rank #3
Norwalk · near
58,940
Norwalk · near
58,940 median HH income
47.9% of the leader · rank #4
Petersburg · this city
58,942
Petersburg · this city
58,942 median HH income
47.9% of the leader · rank #5
Solvay · near
58,944
Solvay · near
58,944 median HH income
47.9% of the leader · rank #6
Walnut Grove… · highest
123,063
Walnut Grove… · highest
123,063 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 Petersburg 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: 579.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Petersburg places in the 34th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
34th
percentile, household income
25th
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: Petersburg, TN
Petersburg is a small town in Tennessee, home to 579 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Petersburg brings in $58,942 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 15.1%. Petersburg's housing stock carries a median value of $144,600, and the median resident age is 43.8 years. About 10.1% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 53.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 1 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
Living costs in Tennessee run below the national norm: the state registers 91.9 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Well Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,118 monthly. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Tennessee's average monthly utility costs around $218 (state average). On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 52.5 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Petersburg'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 schools and households to work and mobility to housing and income to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Petersburg, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Petersburg?
Within Tennessee, the closest population matches are Parker's Crossroads (578 residents, $70,313 income); Walnut Grove CDP (Sumner County) (576 residents, $123,063 income); Woodland Mills (584 residents, $77,368 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Bird City, KS (579 residents); Tekonsha, MI (579 residents); Doolittle, MO (579 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 Petersburg?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 10.1% 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 Petersburg?
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 85.1%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
How far does income reach against housing in Petersburg?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 15.1%, 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. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
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.
Population change
Is Petersburg growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +36 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +6.8% 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.
Period change
+6.8%
2025 estimate
562
2020 estimate
526
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Below median income · poverty 15.1% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
91.9 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Tennessee average
F
City profile score · Petersburg, TN
37/100
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 F
$58,942
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
15.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
10.1%
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).
Petersburg profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 78/100 (B+) · 91.9 index
Household income: 33/100 (F) · $58,942
Poverty rate: 22/100 (F) · 15.1%
Bachelor's+ share: 7/100 (F) · 10.1%
How does Petersburg compare to other US cities?
Here's how Petersburg stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income34% higher than other cities
Home value25% 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 Petersburg 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 Petersburg near the bottom of Tennessee's cities
Among the 482 Tennessee cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Petersburg ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Petersburg only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#206 of 458
55th percentile in Tennessee
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 482
0th percentile in Tennessee
Median Home Value
#315 of 455
31st percentile in Tennessee
Poverty Rate
#142 of 482
70th percentile in Tennessee
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#377 of 482
21st 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
34th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Petersburg's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$144,600Among the most affordablemore affordable than 75% 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
Petersburg's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,760 of 15,516
More affordable than 76% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,406 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.5×, Petersburg sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,760 of 15,516 and #3,406 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
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
$58,942Petersburg, TN median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Petersburg, 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 Petersburg, TN.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)10.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)15.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)53.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
579
Median Income
$58,942
Median Home Value
$144,600
Median Age
43.8
Poverty Rate
15.1%
Labor force participation
53.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
10.1%
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
Petersburg's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
526 residents
2021
532 residents
2022
544 residents
2023
551 residents
2024
559 residents
2025
562 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
85.1%
Carpool
10.8%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.2%
Work from Home
2.9%
Based on 241 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 Petersburg. 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 Petersburg 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 Petersburg sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Petersburg 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 ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.