Pope Valley, CA

The affordability dashboard for Pope Valley, CA aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 623 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of F (37/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $80,833, median home value of $471,400, median rent of $2,250 per month, and 31.6% 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 $2,773 per month (studio $1,912, 1BR $2,113, 3BR $3,532, 4BR $4,134). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $19,608 per year, consuming 24% 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 housing, rent, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 4.1% and poverty 22.8% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.