Mount Hope, AL

The affordability dashboard for Mount Hope, AL aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 1,312 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of B+ (77/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $79,310, median home value of $168,600, median rent of $576 per month, and 35.2% 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 $961 per month (studio $755, 1BR $776, 3BR $1,262, 4BR $1,550). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $7,016 per year, consuming 9% 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 Mount Hope, AL include housing, rent, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 0.0% and poverty 13.6% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.