Bennington, KS

The affordability dashboard for Bennington, KS aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 1,366 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of B+ (77/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $85,556, median home value of $219,000, median rent of $950 per month, and 30.3% 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 $933 per month (studio $684, 1BR $711, 3BR $1,143, 4BR $1,357). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $4,971 per year, consuming 6% 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 Bennington, KS include housing, rent, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 1.3% and poverty 7.8% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.