Clarkston, GA

The affordability dashboard for Clarkston, GA aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 21,989 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of F (28/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $52,278, median home value of $275,400, median rent of $1,346 per month, and 24.5% 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 $1,820 per month (studio $1,585, 1BR $1,660, 3BR $2,182, 4BR $2,605). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $10,660 per year, consuming 20% 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, housing, commute, rent, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 9.0% and poverty 29.3% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.