Milford, IA

The affordability dashboard for Milford, IA aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 4,365 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of C+ (64/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $73,824, median home value of $273,100, median rent of $906 per month, and 29.3% 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 $1,091 per month (studio $826, 1BR $831, 3BR $1,314, 4BR $1,445). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $8,605 per year, consuming 12% of the local median household income.

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. Strengths visible in the raw data for Milford, IA include commute, rent. Unemployment currently reads 3.0% and poverty 6.9% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.