Needles, CA

The affordability dashboard for Needles, CA aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 5,321 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of F (16/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $40,068, median home value of $163,900, median rent of $742 per month, and 11.3% 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 $2,201 per month (studio $1,692, 1BR $1,777, 3BR $2,912, 4BR $3,514). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $19,981 per year, consuming 50% 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 income, education, housing, rent, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 15.2% and poverty 28.6% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.