La Prairie, IL

The affordability dashboard for La Prairie, IL aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 178 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of F (18/100). The headline inputs are median household income of —, median home value of $126,700, median rent of — per month, and 14.2% 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 $1,064 per month (studio $734, 1BR $811, 3BR $1,327, 4BR $1,500). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $11,134 per year.

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 education. Unemployment currently reads 8.3% and poverty 17.7% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.