Brandon, VT

The affordability dashboard for Brandon, VT aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 5,895 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of C (55/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $68,831, median home value of $248,200, median rent of $1,045 per month, and 33.3% 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 $1,345 per month (studio $1,019, 1BR $1,026, 3BR $1,638, 4BR $1,987).

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 1.3% and poverty 11.1% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.