Mishawaka, IN

The affordability dashboard for Mishawaka, IN aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 2 ZIP codes covering 55,841 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of C (57/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $57,947, median home value of $174,760, median rent of $1,019 per month, and 29.4% 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 $1,292 per month (studio $898, 1BR $1,105, 3BR $1,567, 4BR $1,711).

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. Unemployment currently reads 6.1% and poverty 15.0% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.