Mount Vernon, WA

The affordability dashboard for Mount Vernon, WA aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 2 ZIP codes covering 45,330 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (49/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $83,849, median home value of $512,604, median rent of $1,500 per month, and 29.6% 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 $1,720 per month (studio $1,186, 1BR $1,311, 3BR $2,392, 4BR $2,599). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $18,868 per year, consuming 23% 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. Pressure points are housing, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 4.8% and poverty 13.3% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.