Ottawa, KS

The affordability dashboard for Ottawa, KS aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 16,170 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of B (73/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $77,255, median home value of $182,800, median rent of $1,045 per month, and 26.7% 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 $1,020 per month (studio $784, 1BR $789, 3BR $1,223, 4BR $1,360). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $4,971 per year, consuming 6% 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. Strengths visible in the raw data for Ottawa, KS include housing, rent, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 3.3% and poverty 8.8% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.