Brainard, NY

The affordability dashboard for Brainard, NY aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 31 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of C+ (64/100). The headline inputs are median household income of —, median home value of —, median rent of — per month, and 36.6% 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 $1,434 per month (studio $1,249, 1BR $1,263, 3BR $1,730, 4BR $1,899). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $15,028 per year.

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. Unemployment currently reads 0.0% and poverty 17.9% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.