Ashland, MS

The affordability dashboard for Ashland, MS aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 2,894 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (42/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $43,676, median home value of $143,400, median rent of $646 per month, and 13.5% 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 $842 per month (studio $727, 1BR $768, 3BR $1,157, 4BR $1,284). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $8,019 per year, consuming 18% 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 income, education, commute, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 2.3% and poverty 21.9% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.