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Place dossier plate
SheetWY-ALTA-WY · Alta, WY 656 pop · income 96th 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 Alta
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Alta on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Meeteetse · lowest
40,294
Meeteetse · lowest
40,294 median HH income
24.2% of the leader · rank #1
Watchung · near
166,536
Watchung · near
166,536 median HH income
99.8% of the leader · rank #2
Mountain Plai… · near
166,641
Mountain Plai… · near
166,641 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #3
Tano Road · near
166,649
Tano Road · near
166,649 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #4
Alta · this city
166,667
Alta · this city
166,667 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #5
Mountain Mead… · near
166,761
Mountain Mead… · near
166,761 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #6
Shorehaven · highest
166,836
Shorehaven · highest
166,836 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 Alta 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: 656.
Alta ranks in the 96th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
96th
percentile, household income
98th
percentile, home value
18th
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: Alta, WY
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 656 residents in Alta, a small town within Wyoming. Households in Alta report a median income of $166,667 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 0.0%. Home values in Alta run a median of $1,063,500, and the median resident age is 54.3 years. About 54.9% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 63.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 40.5°F with 25.0 inches of precipitation per year and 113.4 inches of snowfall.
Living costs in Wyoming run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Wyoming at 92.7 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Below Average). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,044 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Wyoming run around $180, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 37.9 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Alta'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 climate and hazard context to schools and households 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 Alta, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Alta?
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 40.5°F, with 25.0 inches of precipitation and 113.4 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Wyoming is 37.9 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.
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. 54.9% 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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 52.2%. 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Alta?
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 Wyoming, the closest population matches are Meeteetse (661 residents, $40,294 income); Diamondville (676 residents, $63,889 income); Purple Sage (676 residents, $54,527 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Loleta, CA (656 residents); Queen City, MO (656 residents); Noxen, PA (656 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.
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 Alta?
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 6.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 0.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
6.4×
Home value
$1,063,500
Household income
$166,667
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Top-decile income · poverty 0.0% (Very low poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
92.7 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Wyoming average
A+
City profile score · Alta, WY
92/100
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.
Household income A+
$166,667
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate A+
0.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share A
54.9%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living B+
92.7 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).
Alta profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 100/100 (A+) · $166,667
Poverty rate: 100/100 (A+) · 0.0%
Bachelor's+ share: 88/100 (A) · 54.9%
Cost of living: 75/100 (B+) · 92.7 index
How does Alta compare to other US cities?
Alta measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income96% higher than other cities
Home value98% pricier than other cities
Median rent18% 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 Alta against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Wyoming only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Wyoming-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Alta near the bottom of Wyoming's cities
Among the 150 Wyoming cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Alta ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Alta only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#2 of 135
99th percentile in Wyoming
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 150
0th percentile in Wyoming
Median Home Value
#7 of 128
95th percentile in Wyoming
Poverty Rate
#107 of 149
0th percentile in Wyoming
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#11 of 150
93rd percentile in Wyoming
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 Wyoming only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
96th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Alta's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$1,063,5002nd percentilemore affordable than 2% 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
Alta's home-value-to-income ratio: 6.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,373 of 15,516
More affordable than 7% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,627 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 6.4×, Alta sits in the pressured band:
national rank #14,373 of 15,516 and #10,627 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
$166,667Alta, WY median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Alta, WY median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Alta, WY.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)54.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)63.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
656
Median Income
$166,667
Median Home Value
$1,063,500
Median Age
54.3
Poverty Rate
0.0%
Labor force participation
63.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
54.9%
Climate
Avg Temperature
40.5°F
Annual Precipitation
25.0"
Annual Snowfall
113.4"
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
52.2%
Carpool
10.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
37.6%
Based on 383 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Wyoming statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $180
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Wyoming at $180 (electricity about $85 , water and sewer about $40 ).
These are Wyoming statewide averages, not a meter reading for Alta. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Wyoming's BEA cost-of-living index is 92.7 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Alta is $1,044/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Wyoming statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 37.9 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Wyoming statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Alta sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Alta compares to similar-size Wyoming 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, 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.