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Place dossier plate
SheetVA-MELFA-VA · Melfa, VA 447 pop · income 2nd 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 Melfa
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Melfa on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Springhill · lowest
28,223
Springhill · lowest
28,223 median HH income
34.1% of the leader · rank #1
Charlotte · near
28,242
Charlotte · near
28,242 median HH income
34.1% of the leader · rank #2
Melfa · this city
28,250
Melfa · this city
28,250 median HH income
34.1% of the leader · rank #3
Jonesville · near
28,257
Jonesville · near
28,257 median HH income
34.1% of the leader · rank #4
Liberty · near
28,281
Liberty · near
28,281 median HH income
34.1% of the leader · rank #5
Draper · highest
82,835
Draper · highest
82,835 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #6
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 Melfa 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: 447.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Melfa lands in the 2nd percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
2nd
percentile, household income
30th
percentile, home value
62nd
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: Melfa, VA
Melfa is a small town in Virginia, home to 447 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $28,250 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 16.7%. Typical homes in Melfa are valued around $159,700, and the median resident age is 35.3 years. 22.3% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 51.7% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 1 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
Virginia tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Virginia scores 101.1 (Near Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,369 monthly. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Virginia's average monthly utility costs around $235 (state average). Natural-hazard exposure scores 33.3 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Melfa'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 work and mobility to comparison shortlist to population change to housing and income to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Melfa, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
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
What does the journey to work look like in Melfa?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 84.5%. 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Melfa?
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 Virginia, the closest population matches are Chase Crossing (450 residents); Troutville (451 residents, $54,708 income); Ewing (441 residents, $72,591 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are East Point, AL (447 residents); Nances Creek, AL (447 residents); Empire, GA (447 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.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +7 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.8% 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.
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 Melfa?
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 5.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 16.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Melfa?
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 1 public school within the city match. 22.3% 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.
Poverty estimate
16.7%
Bachelor's degree+
22.3%
Matched public schools
1
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 16.7% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
101.1 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Virginia average
F
City profile score · Melfa, VA
21/100
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.
Bachelor's+ share D
22.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living F
101.1 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 F
16.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$28,250
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).
Melfa profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 41/100 (D) · 22.3%
Cost of living: 35/100 (F) · 101.1 index
Poverty rate: 19/100 (F) · 16.7%
Household income: 0/100 (F) · $28,250
How does Melfa compare to other US cities?
Where Melfa sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income2% higher than other cities
Home value30% pricier than other cities
Median rent62% 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 Melfa against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Virginia only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Virginia-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Melfa near the bottom of Virginia's cities
Among the 619 Virginia cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Melfa ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Melfa only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#545 of 558
2nd percentile in Virginia
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 619
0th percentile in Virginia
Median Home Value
#426 of 567
25th percentile in Virginia
Poverty Rate
#92 of 616
85th percentile in Virginia
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#360 of 618
42nd percentile in Virginia
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 Virginia only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
2nd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Melfa's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$159,700Among 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
Melfa's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,768 of 15,516
More affordable than 11% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,268 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 5.7×, Melfa sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,768 of 15,516 and #10,268 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
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
$28,250Melfa, VA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Melfa, VA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Melfa, VA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)22.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)16.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)51.7%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
447
Median Income
$28,250
Median Home Value
$159,700
Median Age
35.3
Poverty Rate
16.7%
Labor force participation
51.7%
Bachelor's Degree+
22.3%
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
Melfa's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
398 residents
2021
399 residents
2022
397 residents
2023
400 residents
2024
403 residents
2025
405 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
84.5%
Carpool
4.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
11.3%
Based on 168 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Virginia statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $235
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Virginia at $235 (electricity about $115 , water and sewer about $50 ).
These are Virginia statewide averages, not a meter reading for Melfa. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Virginia's BEA cost-of-living index is 101.1 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Melfa is $1,369/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Virginia statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 33.3 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Virginia statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Melfa sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Melfa compares to similar-size Virginia 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.