New Canton, VA

The affordability dashboard for New Canton, VA aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 1,860 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (47/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $50,203, median home value of $160,800, median rent of $1,052 per month, and 2.9% 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 $959 per month (studio $830, 1BR $875, 3BR $1,266, 4BR $1,419). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $6,971 per year, consuming 14% 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. Unemployment currently reads 13.0% and poverty 19.2% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.