Island Pond, VT

The affordability dashboard for Island Pond, VT aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 1,252 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (45/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $46,278, median home value of $159,600, median rent of $777 per month, and 23.2% 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 $1,007 per month (studio $780, 1BR $919, 3BR $1,400, 4BR $1,640).

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 3.5% and poverty 27.9% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.