Carp Lake, MI

The affordability dashboard for Carp Lake, MI aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 701 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (42/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $48,750, median home value of $193,500, median rent of $725 per month, and 26.8% 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 $1,235 per month (studio $863, 1BR $941, 3BR $1,481, 4BR $1,635). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $6,926 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, housing. Unemployment currently reads 5.5% and poverty 32.6% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.