Madison, AR

The affordability dashboard for Madison, AR aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 430 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of F (16/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $23,802, median home value of —, median rent of $281 per month, and 22.2% 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 $923 per month (studio $661, 1BR $703, 3BR $1,161, 4BR $1,310).

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, rent. Unemployment currently reads 0.0% and poverty 30.5% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.