Federal Dam, MN

The affordability dashboard for Federal Dam, MN aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 324 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of F (32/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $39,688, median home value of $159,000, median rent of $917 per month, and 15.2% 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 $729, 1BR $768, 3BR $1,300, 4BR $1,632). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $9,100 per year, consuming 23% 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, housing, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 23.9% and poverty 21.5% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.