Plainfield, NJ

The affordability dashboard for Plainfield, NJ aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 3 ZIP codes covering 71,485 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (44/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $84,962, median home value of $393,970, median rent of $1,774 per month, and 22.3% 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 $2,205 per month (studio $1,612, 1BR $1,822, 3BR $2,761, 4BR $3,137). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $15,543 per year, consuming 18% 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, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 8.8% and poverty 14.9% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.