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.
Place dossier plate
SheetWV-ALUM-CREEK-WV · Alum Creek, WV 1,472 pop · income 53rd 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 Alum Creek
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Alum Creek on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Wayne · lowest
31,797
Wayne · lowest
31,797 median HH income
29.8% of the leader · rank #1
Alum Creek · this city
72,250
Alum Creek · this city
72,250 median HH income
67.6% of the leader · rank #2
Haines · near
72,250
Haines · near
72,250 median HH income
67.6% of the leader · rank #3
Talkeetna · near
72,250
Talkeetna · near
72,250 median HH income
67.6% of the leader · rank #4
Aroma Park · near
72,250
Aroma Park · near
72,250 median HH income
67.6% of the leader · rank #5
Independence · near
72,250
Independence · near
72,250 median HH income
67.6% of the leader · rank #6
Bel-Nor · highest
106,875
Bel-Nor · highest
106,875 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 Alum Creek 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: 1,472.
Alum Creek ranks in the 53rd percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
53rd
percentile, household income
30th
percentile, home value
5th
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: Alum Creek, WV
West Virginia's Alum Creek is a small town, with 1,472 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Alum Creek households earn a median of $72,250 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 17.1%. Typical homes in Alum Creek are valued around $158,900, and the median resident age is 48.6 years. About 14.5% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 47.7% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 1 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
Living costs in West Virginia run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts West Virginia at 89.5 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $945 per month statewide. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in West Virginia run around $220, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Workers in Alum Creek report an average commute of 26.3 minutes, with 97.4% driving alone and 2.6% working from home. Natural-hazard exposure scores 49.2 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Alum Creek'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 schools and households to work and mobility to housing and income to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Alum Creek, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for annual population history, 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 education layer cover for Alum Creek?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 14.5% 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.
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 Alum Creek?
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 97.4%. The reported mean trip to work is 26.3 minutes.
How far does income reach against housing in Alum Creek?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 17.1%, 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Alum Creek?
Within West Virginia, the closest population matches are Parsons (1,481 residents, $44,375 income); Mabscott (1,488 residents, $58,125 income); Mallory (1,453 residents). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Lazy Mountain, AK (1,472 residents); Ravenna, MI (1,472 residents); Bel-Nor, MO (1,472 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.
Above median income · poverty 17.1% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
89.5 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, West Virginia average
D
City profile score · Alum Creek, WV
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.
Cost of living A
89.5 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 C-
$72,250
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
17.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
14.5%
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).
Alum Creek profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 87/100 (A) · 89.5 index
Household income: 52/100 (C-) · $72,250
Poverty rate: 19/100 (F) · 17.1%
Bachelor's+ share: 19/100 (F) · 14.5%
How does Alum Creek compare to other US cities?
Alum Creek measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income53% higher than other cities
Home value30% pricier than other cities
Median rent5% 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 Alum Creek against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to West Virginia only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
West Virginia-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Alum Creek near the bottom of West Virginia's cities
Among the 390 West Virginia cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Alum Creek ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Alum Creek only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#62 of 330
81st percentile in West Virginia
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 390
0th percentile in West Virginia
Median Home Value
#82 of 337
75th percentile in West Virginia
Poverty Rate
#127 of 389
67th percentile in West Virginia
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#202 of 390
48th percentile in West 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 West Virginia only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
53rd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Alum Creek's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$158,900Among 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
Alum Creek's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#2,459 of 15,516
More affordable than 84% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,309 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.2×, Alum Creek sits in the affordable band:
national rank #2,459 of 15,516 and #2,309 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
$72,250Alum Creek, WV median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Alum Creek, WV median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Alum Creek, WV.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)14.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)17.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)47.7%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,472
Median Income
$72,250
Median Home Value
$158,900
Median Age
48.6
Poverty Rate
17.1%
Labor force participation
47.7%
Bachelor's Degree+
14.5%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
26.3 minutes
Drive Alone
97.4%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
2.6%
Based on 611 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
West Virginia statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $220
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across West Virginia at $220 (electricity about $110 , water and sewer about $38 ).
These are West Virginia statewide averages, not a meter reading for Alum Creek. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
West Virginia's BEA cost-of-living index is 89.5 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Alum Creek is $945/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to West Virginia statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 49.2 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a West Virginia statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Alum Creek sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Alum Creek compares to similar-size West 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.