Lake Junaluska, NC

The affordability dashboard for Lake Junaluska, NC aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 551 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of A- (84/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $117,824, median home value of $356,600, median rent of — per month, and 80.0% 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 $1,230 per month (studio $1,039, 1BR $1,122, 3BR $1,475, 4BR $1,844). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $10,572 per year, consuming 9% 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 Junaluska, NC include income, education, rent, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 0.0% and poverty 1.2% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.