Gainestown, AL

The affordability dashboard for Gainestown, AL aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 691 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of F (25/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $29,609, median home value of —, median rent of — per month, and 16.5% 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 $791 per month (studio $588, 1BR $603, 3BR $1,034, 4BR $1,261). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $6,882 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, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 21.3% and poverty 35.3% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.