East Helena, MT

The affordability dashboard for East Helena, MT aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 7,282 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of C (58/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $83,740, median home value of $395,600, median rent of $1,053 per month, and 37.0% 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 $1,647 per month (studio $1,136, 1BR $1,319, 3BR $2,250, 4BR $2,496). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $11,228 per year, consuming 13% 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 housing. Unemployment currently reads 1.6% and poverty 6.5% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.