Jamaica, NY

The affordability dashboard for Jamaica, NY aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 6 ZIP codes covering 224,445 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of F (30/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $77,979, median home value of $677,913, median rent of $1,744 per month, and 28.5% 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 $2,910 per month (studio $2,529, 1BR $2,655, 3BR $3,644, 4BR $3,959). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $15,600 per year, consuming 20% 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, commute, rent, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 10.2% and poverty 14.4% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.