Fort Lauderdale, FL

The affordability dashboard for Fort Lauderdale, FL aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 27 ZIP codes covering 765,608 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of C- (50/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $86,163, median home value of $447,559, median rent of $2,062 per month, and 37.8% 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 $2,333 per month (studio $1,737, 1BR $1,900, 3BR $3,216, 4BR $3,810). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $12,116 per year, consuming 14% 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. Unemployment currently reads 5.4% and poverty 12.5% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.