Boston, MA

The D grade for Boston, MA is built from Census ACS 5-Year Estimates layered with county-level federal data. The headline inputs are median household income of $98,134, median home value of $1,036,996, median rent of $2,374 per month, and 74.1% 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 $2,941 per month (studio $2,359, 1BR $2,476, 3BR $3,526, 4BR $3,894). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $30,680 per year, consuming 31% 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 Boston, MA include income, education. Pressure points are housing, rent, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 6.2% and poverty 23.2% - numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.