Melbourne, AR

The affordability dashboard for Melbourne, AR aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 3,375 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of C- (50/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $46,113, median home value of $152,500, median rent of $601 per month, and 22.7% 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 $880 per month (studio $630, 1BR $715, 3BR $1,202, 4BR $1,476).

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. Unemployment currently reads 4.0% and poverty 22.3% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.