North Highlands, CA

The affordability dashboard for North Highlands, CA aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 30,714 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of F (29/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $68,235, median home value of $356,200, median rent of $1,689 per month, and 12.2% 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 $2,255 per month (studio $1,748, 1BR $1,832, 3BR $3,002, 4BR $3,460). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $18,040 per year, consuming 26% 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 education, housing, commute, rent, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 6.2% and poverty 19.3% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.