Grand Chain, IL

The affordability dashboard for Grand Chain, IL aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 808 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (48/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $47,500, median home value of $139,400, median rent of $734 per month, and 10.6% 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 $916 per month (studio $632, 1BR $836, 3BR $1,274, 4BR $1,537).

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. Unemployment currently reads 3.4% and poverty 12.4% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.