Bailey, MS

The affordability dashboard for Bailey, MS aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 1,828 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of B (74/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $70,852, median home value of $170,200, median rent of $833 per month, and 37.3% 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 $906 per month (studio $781, 1BR $812, 3BR $1,204, 4BR $1,265). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $5,965 per year, consuming 8% 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. Strengths visible in the raw data for Bailey, MS include housing, rent, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 4.8% and poverty 22.8% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.