El Mirage, AZ

The affordability dashboard for El Mirage, AZ aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 31,787 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (45/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $78,050, median home value of $321,900, median rent of $1,806 per month, and 15.8% 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 $1,839 per month (studio $1,457, 1BR $1,583, 3BR $2,452, 4BR $2,720). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $14,040 per year, consuming 18% 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, commute, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 5.8% and poverty 12.5% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.