Arrington, VA

The affordability dashboard for Arrington, VA aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 1,993 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (44/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $60,125, median home value of $226,000, median rent of $797 per month, and 34.0% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher. These four metrics alone explain most of the variance between city dashboards.

Cross-agency feeds widen the picture beyond Census demographics. HUD publishes a Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom in this county at $1,824 per month (studio $1,421, 1BR $1,602, 3BR $2,218, 4BR $2,731). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $9,622 per year, consuming 16% of the local median household income.

Reading the overall grade requires reading all seven dimensions together. The score weights Income 20%, Safety 20%, Housing 15%, Rent 15%, Education 10%, Commute 10%, and Childcare 10%, with each sub-score benchmarked against national percentiles rather than state averages — so the grade is genuinely comparable across any city in the country. Pressure points are rent. Unemployment currently reads 6.2% and poverty 15.7% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.