Mer Rouge, LA

The affordability dashboard for Mer Rouge, LA aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 1,684 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of F (8/100). The headline inputs are median household income of -, median home value of $92,500, median rent of $585 per month, and 8.0% 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 $834 per month (studio $631, 1BR $636, 3BR $1,143, 4BR $1,172). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $6,760 per year.

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 11.1% and poverty 38.3% - numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.