Mobile, AL

The affordability dashboard for Mobile, AL aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 19 ZIP codes covering 270,712 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of C (56/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $56,018, median home value of $184,666, median rent of $1,070 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 $1,083 per month (studio $854, 1BR $919, 3BR $1,414, 4BR $1,445). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $6,932 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. Unemployment currently reads 6.2% and poverty 19.0% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.