Charleston, WV

The affordability dashboard for Charleston, WV aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 10 ZIP codes covering 96,057 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of B- (68/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $66,420, median home value of $170,376, median rent of $942 per month, and 34.5% 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 $1,036 per month (studio $714, 1BR $829, 3BR $1,325, 4BR $1,372). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $8,194 per year, consuming 12% 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. Strengths visible in the raw data for Charleston, WV include housing, rent. Unemployment currently reads 5.4% and poverty 14.7% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.