Lake Elmo, MN

The affordability dashboard for Lake Elmo, MN aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 8,840 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of B+ (76/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $154,341, median home value of $602,100, median rent of $2,407 per month, and 61.8% 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 $1,709 per month (studio $1,242, 1BR $1,405, 3BR $2,262, 4BR $2,531). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $20,280 per year, consuming 13% 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. Strengths visible in the raw data for Lake Elmo, MN include income, education, rent. Unemployment currently reads 2.2% and poverty 4.6% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.