Bayonne, NJ

The affordability dashboard for Bayonne, NJ aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 63,031 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (40/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $83,887, median home value of $460,100, median rent of $1,682 per month, and 39.6% 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 $2,763 per month (studio $2,407, 1BR $2,458, 3BR $3,367, 4BR $3,955). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $16,758 per year, consuming 20% 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 housing, commute, rent, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 5.4% and poverty 14.4% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.