Lamar, AR

The affordability dashboard for Lamar, AR aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 3,913 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of B- (67/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $61,250, median home value of $151,700, median rent of $654 per month, and 27.7% 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 $884 per month (studio $633, 1BR $674, 3BR $1,083, 4BR $1,246).

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 Lamar, AR include housing, commute, rent. Unemployment currently reads 0.6% and poverty 11.6% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.