Ottawa, WV

The affordability dashboard for Ottawa, WV aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 242 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of F (9/100). The headline inputs are median household income of -, median home value of -, median rent of - per month, and 8.8% 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 $869 per month (studio $669, 1BR $674, 3BR $1,195, 4BR $1,458). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $9,601 per year.

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. Unemployment currently reads 43.1% and poverty 42.9% - numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.