Bay Saint Louis, MS

The affordability dashboard for Bay Saint Louis, MS aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 14,681 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of C (55/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $62,176, median home value of $225,600, median rent of $1,127 per month, and 30.8% 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 $1,140 per month (studio $786, 1BR $923, 3BR $1,471, 4BR $1,612). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $7,758 per year, consuming 12% 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 Bay Saint Louis, MS include rent. Unemployment currently reads 7.7% and poverty 16.5% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.