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Place dossier plate
SheetVA-PAINTER-VA · Painter, VA 304 pop · income 49th 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 Painter
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Painter on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Hilltown · lowest
32,455
Hilltown · lowest
32,455 median HH income
35.5% of the leader · rank #1
Painter · this city
70,000
Painter · this city
70,000 median HH income
76.5% of the leader · rank #2
Steele · near
70,000
Steele · near
70,000 median HH income
76.5% of the leader · rank #3
Kasigluk · near
70,000
Kasigluk · near
70,000 median HH income
76.5% of the leader · rank #4
Crawfordsville · near
70,000
Crawfordsville · near
70,000 median HH income
76.5% of the leader · rank #5
Norman · near
70,000
Norman · near
70,000 median HH income
76.5% of the leader · rank #6
Alba · highest
91,458
Alba · highest
91,458 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 Painter 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: 304.
Painter ranks in the 49th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
49th
percentile, household income
17th
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: Painter, VA
Painter is a small town in Virginia, home to 304 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Painter households earn a median of $70,000 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 4.0%. Painter's housing stock carries a median value of $120,000, and the median resident age is 39.2 years. 16.2% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 54.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 58.8°F with 47.2 inches of precipitation per year and 6.6 inches of snowfall.
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. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,369 per month statewide. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Virginia run around $235, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 33.3 out of 100 (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Painter'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 climate and hazard context to comparison shortlist to population change to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Painter, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count; 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 Painter?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 66.4%. 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.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 58.8°F, with 47.2 inches of precipitation and 6.6 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Virginia is 33.3 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
Which cities make useful reference points for Painter?
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 Hilltown (306 residents, $32,455 income); Moneta (301 residents); Newsoms (296 residents, $52,639 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Hickox, GA (304 residents); Quimby, IA (304 residents); Lowell, KS (304 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 +4 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.5% 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.
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.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Painter?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
1.7×
Home value
$120,000
Household income
$70,000
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Below median income · poverty 4.0% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
101.1 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Virginia average
D
City profile score · Painter, VA
46/100
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.
Poverty rate B
4.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income D
$70,000
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); 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.
Bachelor's+ share F
16.2%
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).
Painter profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 72/100 (B) · 4.0%
Household income: 49/100 (D) · $70,000
Cost of living: 35/100 (F) · 101.1 index
Bachelor's+ share: 23/100 (F) · 16.2%
How does Painter compare to other US cities?
Where Painter sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income49% higher than other cities
Home value17% 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 Painter 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 Painter near the bottom of Virginia's cities
Among the 619 Virginia cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Painter ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Painter only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#292 of 558
48th percentile in Virginia
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 619
0th percentile in Virginia
Median Home Value
#490 of 567
13th percentile in Virginia
Poverty Rate
#354 of 616
42nd percentile in Virginia
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#446 of 618
28th 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
49th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Painter's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$120,000Among the most affordablemore affordable than 83% 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
Painter's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#777 of 15,516
More affordable than 95% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#754 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.7×, Painter sits in the affordable band:
national rank #777 of 15,516 and #754 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
$70,000Painter, VA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Painter, 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 Painter, VA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)16.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)54.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
304
Median Income
$70,000
Median Home Value
$120,000
Median Age
39.2
Poverty Rate
4.0%
Labor force participation
54.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
16.2%
Climate
Avg Temperature
58.8°F
Annual Precipitation
47.2"
Annual Snowfall
6.6"
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Painter's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
274 residents
2021
274 residents
2022
272 residents
2023
275 residents
2024
277 residents
2025
278 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
66.4%
Carpool
27.6%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
2.6%
Work from Home
3.4%
Based on 116 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 Painter. 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 Painter 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 Painter sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Painter 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, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.