Owatonna, MN

The affordability dashboard for Owatonna, MN aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 28,911 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of B (70/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $84,906, median home value of $251,100, median rent of $1,069 per month, and 28.7% 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 $1,142 per month (studio $787, 1BR $870, 3BR $1,549, 4BR $1,816). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $12,203 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. Strengths visible in the raw data for Owatonna, MN include commute, rent. Unemployment currently reads 3.6% and poverty 9.0% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.