Empire, CO

The affordability dashboard for Empire, CO aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 486 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (40/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $67,034, median home value of $355,600, median rent of $1,444 per month, and 33.8% 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 $2,089 per month (studio $1,643, 1BR $1,754, 3BR $2,734, 4BR $3,049). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $14,508 per year, consuming 22% 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, rent, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 4.3% and poverty 8.8% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.