El Paso, TX

The affordability dashboard for El Paso, TX aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 24 ZIP codes covering 746,640 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 $58,894, median home value of $180,101, median rent of $1,109 per month, and 25.8% 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 $1,191 per month (studio $821, 1BR $1,013, 3BR $1,633, 4BR $1,998). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $6,344 per year, consuming 11% 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. Unemployment currently reads 6.0% and poverty 19.7% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.