Atwater, CA

The affordability dashboard for Atwater, CA aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 37,073 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (41/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $68,349, median home value of $390,900, median rent of $1,285 per month, and 14.7% 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 $1,503 per month (studio $1,116, 1BR $1,213, 3BR $2,067, 4BR $2,503). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $12,716 per year, consuming 19% 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 education, housing, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 11.2% and poverty 19.1% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.