Cold Bay, AK

The affordability dashboard for Cold Bay, AK aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 160 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of C (57/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $70,000, median home value of $217,300, median rent of - per month, and 19.3% 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 $1,385 per month (studio $993, 1BR $1,263, 3BR $1,661, 4BR $2,281).

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 education. Unemployment currently reads 0.0% and poverty 8.6% - numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.