Gifford, SC

The affordability dashboard for Gifford, SC aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 392 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 $31,389, median home value of $94,700, median rent of — per month, and 9.0% 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 $902 per month (studio $678, 1BR $720, 3BR $1,200, 4BR $1,411). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $6,095 per year, consuming 19% 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, rent, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 3.4% and poverty 19.0% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.