Lilesville, NC

The affordability dashboard for Lilesville, NC aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 2,158 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (49/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $52,917, median home value of $152,900, median rent of $854 per month, and 11.8% 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 $1,138 per month (studio $785, 1BR $867, 3BR $1,364, 4BR $1,654). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $8,254 per year, consuming 16% 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 education. Unemployment currently reads 12.3% and poverty 11.6% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.