City profile · Virginia · Census ACS 2023

The Plains, VA

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

114
Residents
$94,375
Median income
$412,500
Median home
$1,369
Median rent (state)
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Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.

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Starting with The Plains, VA - add up to three more cities on the compare page.

See how it ranks

State rank, size-class rank, and four peer cities for The Plains.

Place dossier plate

Sheet VA-THE-PLAINS-VA · The Plains, VA 114 pop · income 74th pct

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

  • POP-VILLAGE 114
  • INC-HIGH $94,375
  • COL-PAR 101.1
  • SAFE-UNK Safety pending
  • RANK-UPPER 74th
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Sutter
  • HOME-HIGH $412,500
  • BOOK-UNK Tracts pending

Nearest income peer: Sutter, CA (+ $0 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 The Plains

Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest The Plains 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 The Plains 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: 114.

4 peers

Similar household income

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS median household income. This city: $94,375. Population peers are excluded.

4 peers

The Plains - the verdict

The Plains ranks in the 74th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.

74th
percentile, household income
78th
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: The Plains, VA

Census ACS 2023 estimates count 114 residents in The Plains, a small town within Virginia. Median household income here is $94,375 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 7.7%. Typical homes in The Plains are valued around $412,500, and the median resident age is 54.2 years. 52.1% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 71.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.

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. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,369 per month. 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 The Plains'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 work and mobility to comparison shortlist to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.

For The Plains, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history. No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.

Question 1

Is The Plains growing, shrinking, or holding steady?

Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +13 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +5.2% 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.

See the national growth ranking →

Question 2

What does the journey to work look like in The Plains?

Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 76.7%. 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 →

3. Comparison shortlist

Which cities make useful reference points for The Plains?

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 Pamplin City (118 residents, $72,188 income); Sussex (110 residents, $83,531 income); Eagle Rock (122 residents). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Comptche, CA (114 residents); Hartland, IL (114 residents); Nelson, IL (114 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 →

4. Housing and income

How far does income reach against housing in The Plains?

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 4.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 7.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.

Compare the housing trade-off →

Population

114 residents

Micro place (under 10k)

Median Household Income

$94,375 /yr

Above median income · poverty 7.7% (Above-median poverty)

Cost of Living Index (state)

101.1 (US=100)

Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Virginia average

City profile score · The Plains, VA

60/100

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 A
52.1%

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

Household income B
$94,375

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

Poverty rate D
7.7%

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

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.

Violent crime N/A
N/A

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

The Plains profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions) 4-axis radar comparing 1 series across Bachelor's+ share, Household income, Poverty rate, Cost of living. Bachelor's+ shareHousehold incomePoverty rateCost of living 60 C+
The Plains profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)
Read the chart values
  • Bachelor's+ share: 86/100 (A) · 52.1%
  • Household income: 74/100 (B) · $94,375
  • Poverty rate: 49/100 (D) · 7.7%
  • Cost of living: 35/100 (F) · 101.1 index

How does The Plains compare to other US cities?

Here's how The Plains stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.

Household income 74% higher than other cities
Home value 78% pricier than other cities
Median rent 62% 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 The Plains 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 The Plains near the bottom of Virginia's cities

Among the 619 Virginia cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, The Plains ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares The Plains only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.

Median Household Income
#196 of 558
65th percentile in Virginia
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 619
0th percentile in Virginia
Median Home Value
#155 of 567
73rd percentile in Virginia
Poverty Rate
#244 of 616
60th percentile in Virginia
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#133 of 618
78th 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.

74thIncome percentile
Gauge source note

74th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.

How The Plains's home value compares nationally

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

$412,500 22nd percentile more affordable than 22% 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%). Below this entry. $325,000–$350,000: 526 US cities (3%). Below this entry. $350,000–$375,000: 465 US cities (3%). Below this entry. $375,000–$400,000: 393 US cities (3%). Below this entry. $400,000–$425,000: 317 US cities (2%). This entry sits in this band. $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. The Plains $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

The Plains's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.4×

ACS median home value divided by median household income.

Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#11,695 of 15,516
More affordable than 25% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#8,997 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)

At 4.4×, The Plains sits in the moderate band: national rank #11,695 of 15,516 and #8,997 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

$94,375 The Plains, VA median household income (Census ACS)

Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Household income distribution - The Plains, VA The Plains, VA's median household income ($94,375) against the U.S. national quintile-share pattern. The Lorenz curve and quintile bars are national context, not The Plains, VA-specific shares. $ Household Income Distribution The Plains, VA median $94,375/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%
The Plains, 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 The Plains, VA.

Key socioeconomic indicators

Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+) 52.1%

Census ACS S1501, educational attainment

Poverty rate (households below FPL) 7.7%

Census ACS S1701, poverty status

Labor force participation (adults 16+) 71.4%

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

Population
114
Median Income
$94,375
Median Home Value
$412,500
Median Age
54.2
Poverty Rate
7.7%
Labor force participation
71.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
52.1%

Population Change

PEP vintage

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

See the fastest-growing cities →
245 residents250 residents255 residents260 residents265 residents 202020212022202320242025 248 residents 261 residents ▲ +5.2%
The Plains's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.
Read the chart as text
Period Population
2020 248 residents
2021 252 residents
2022 254 residents
2023 257 residents
2024 259 residents
2025 261 residents

Commute Patterns

Commute source

How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023

Drive Alone
76.7%
Carpool
5.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
2.7%
Work from Home
15.1%

Based on 73 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 The Plains. 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 The Plains 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 The Plains sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.

How The Plains 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.

City Population Median Household Income
The Plains (this city) 114 $94,375
Pamplin City 118 $72,188
Sussex 110 $83,531
Eagle Rock 122 N/A
Primary sources on this page

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, 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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