Oak Ridge, TN

The affordability dashboard for Oak Ridge, TN aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 29,700 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of C (59/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $72,269, median home value of $270,900, median rent of $1,131 per month, and 40.2% 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 $1,471 per month (studio $1,177, 1BR $1,184, 3BR $1,864, 4BR $2,172). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $11,007 per year, consuming 15% 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. Unemployment currently reads 3.8% and poverty 12.2% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.