Chatham, NY

The affordability dashboard for Chatham, NY aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 4,015 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of B- (65/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $89,844, median home value of $343,900, median rent of $1,067 per month, and 51.7% 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 $1,434 per month (studio $1,249, 1BR $1,263, 3BR $1,730, 4BR $1,899). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $15,028 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. Strengths visible in the raw data for Chatham, NY include income, education, rent. Unemployment currently reads 1.9% and poverty 16.8% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.