Empire, OH

The affordability dashboard for Empire, OH aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 285 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of F (31/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $45,938, median home value of —, median rent of $757 per month, and 5.1% 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 $973 per month (studio $752, 1BR $757, 3BR $1,285, 4BR $1,482). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $15,340 per year, consuming 33% 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 income, education, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 7.6% and poverty 13.5% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.