Pocomoke City, MD

The affordability dashboard for Pocomoke City, MD aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 7,315 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (43/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $53,162, median home value of $206,700, median rent of $848 per month, and 22.5% 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 $1,194 per month (studio $1,027, 1BR $1,035, 3BR $1,661, 4BR $1,919). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $12,369 per year, consuming 23% 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, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 9.1% and poverty 12.2% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.