Fountain, CO

The affordability dashboard for Fountain, CO aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 27,311 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of C- (52/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $86,543, median home value of $400,100, median rent of $1,717 per month, and 33.9% 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 $1,735 per month (studio $1,196, 1BR $1,464, 3BR $2,413, 4BR $2,744). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $18,223 per year, consuming 21% 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, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 4.5% and poverty 10.4% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.