Brookhaven, MS

The affordability dashboard for Brookhaven, MS aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 23,536 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (47/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $43,936, median home value of $156,700, median rent of $770 per month, and 18.8% 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 $852 per month (studio $645, 1BR $649, 3BR $1,126, 4BR $1,129). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $6,037 per year, consuming 14% 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. Pressure points are income, education. Unemployment currently reads 2.3% and poverty 26.3% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.