Lowell, VT

The affordability dashboard for Lowell, VT aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 879 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (44/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $57,404, median home value of $183,400, median rent of $945 per month, and 19.2% 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 $1,184 per month (studio $940, 1BR $993, 3BR $1,528, 4BR $1,986).

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, commute. Unemployment currently reads 14.2% and poverty 9.6% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.