Darrington, WA

The affordability dashboard for Darrington, WA aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 2,129 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of F (32/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $73,185, median home value of $395,000, median rent of $926 per month, and 19.6% 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 $2,501 per month (studio $2,074, 1BR $2,146, 3BR $3,272, 4BR $3,847). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $18,868 per year, consuming 26% 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 education, housing, rent, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 11.5% and poverty 18.4% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.