PlainZIP

City Affordability Dashboard

Comprehensive affordability scores for U.S. cities, combining income, housing, rent, safety, education, commute, and childcare data from 4 federal sources.

Largest Cities

Houston
TX
Pop. 2,906,700
Chicago
IL
Pop. 2,680,484
Brooklyn
NY
Pop. 2,504,700
Los Angeles
CA
Pop. 2,378,448
Miami
FL
Pop. 1,723,766
San Antonio
TX
Pop. 1,578,279
New York
NY
Pop. 1,577,385
Philadelphia
PA
Pop. 1,526,206
Las Vegas
NV
Pop. 1,417,793
Bronx
NY
Pop. 1,382,480
Phoenix
AZ
Pop. 1,312,922
Dallas
TX
Pop. 1,263,321
San Diego
CA
Pop. 1,241,364
Minneapolis
MN
Pop. 1,022,298
San Jose
CA
Pop. 973,849
Denver
CO
Pop. 958,706
Austin
TX
Pop. 940,359
Saint Louis
MO
Pop. 927,396
Indianapolis
IN
Pop. 910,148
Atlanta
GA
Pop. 900,273
Tucson
AZ
Pop. 880,383
Orlando
FL
Pop. 878,243
Portland
OR
Pop. 841,711
Seattle
WA
Pop. 837,792
Fort Worth
TX
Pop. 813,980
Jacksonville
FL
Pop. 810,498
Milwaukee
WI
Pop. 808,042
San Francisco
CA
Pop. 805,301
Cincinnati
OH
Pop. 795,220
Charlotte
NC
Pop. 790,689
Columbus
OH
Pop. 783,285
Cleveland
OH
Pop. 769,341
Fort Lauderdale
FL
Pop. 765,608
Sacramento
CA
Pop. 757,530
Saint Paul
MN
Pop. 753,116
El Paso
TX
Pop. 746,640
Louisville
KY
Pop. 736,284
Tampa
FL
Pop. 717,255
Memphis
TN
Pop. 697,385
Pittsburgh
PA
Pop. 687,276
Detroit
MI
Pop. 673,342
Albuquerque
NM
Pop. 641,349
Oklahoma City
OK
Pop. 640,470
Baltimore
MD
Pop. 632,623
Washington
DC
Pop. 601,239
Fresno
CA
Pop. 570,271
Buffalo
NY
Pop. 564,824
Kansas City
MO
Pop. 545,132
Colorado Springs
CO
Pop. 525,713
Bakersfield
CA
Pop. 520,197

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How We Calculate Affordability

Each city dashboard aggregates data from all ZIP codes within the city, weighted by population. We then score 7 dimensions against national benchmarks:

Income Median household income vs national percentiles (20% weight)
Safety Violent crime rate per 100K from FBI UCR data (20% weight)
Housing Home value to income ratio from Census ACS (15% weight)
Rent 2BR fair market rent vs income from HUD FMR data (15% weight)
Education Bachelor's degree attainment rate from Census ACS (10% weight)
Commute Average commute time in minutes from Census ACS (10% weight)
Childcare Infant center care cost as % of income from DOL data (10% weight)

Grades range from A+ (top 10%) to F (bottom 10%). If data is unavailable for a dimension, its weight is redistributed to the remaining dimensions. Crime and childcare data are at the county level; all other metrics are ZIP-level aggregates.

Data: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates (), HUD Fair Market Rents FY2024, FBI Uniform Crime Report, DOL National Database of Childcare Prices. Vintages stay separate across agencies.

PlainZIP is not affiliated with the U.S. Census Bureau or any government agency.

This page explains the source records, calculation, and limits behind the figures shown. City grades blend seven federal metrics weighted by disclosed percentages. Crime and childcare remain county-level joins; income, housing, education, and commute are ZIP aggregates rolled to the city. The grade is not a livability, school, or street-level recommendation. Read our editorial standards and corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of the ACS 2019–2023 claims window (plus HUD FY2024 / FBI+DOL latest county years).