Carbon, IA

The affordability dashboard for Carbon, IA aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 34 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (41/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $48,750, median home value of —, median rent of — per month, and 8.7% 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 $692, 1BR $711, 3BR $1,217, 4BR $1,235). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $8,484 per year, consuming 17% 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 0.0% and poverty 30.4% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.