Belen, NM

The affordability dashboard for Belen, NM aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 22,517 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 $51,961, median home value of $185,100, median rent of $959 per month, and 19.3% 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 $1,464 per month (studio $1,009, 1BR $1,185, 3BR $2,036, 4BR $2,399).

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, rent. Unemployment currently reads 7.9% and poverty 22.2% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.