Lester, WV

The affordability dashboard for Lester, WV aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 1,475 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of F (28/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $38,173, median home value of $170,000, median rent of $975 per month, and 11.0% 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 $944 per month (studio $715, 1BR $719, 3BR $1,313, 4BR $1,377). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $8,836 per year, consuming 23% 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 income, education, housing, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 1.2% and poverty 26.1% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.