Michigan City, IN

The affordability dashboard for Michigan City, IN aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 43,625 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of C (59/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $59,266, median home value of $167,300, median rent of $976 per month, and 23.8% 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 $1,152 per month (studio $874, 1BR $953, 3BR $1,454, 4BR $1,680).

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 7.5% and poverty 17.3% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.