Portage, ME

The affordability dashboard for Portage, ME aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 400 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (48/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $60,000, median home value of $202,200, median rent of $1,100 per month, and 11.6% 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 $1,224 per month (studio $942, 1BR $949, 3BR $1,672, 4BR $1,739). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $10,053 per year, consuming 17% 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. Unemployment currently reads 2.6% and poverty 12.0% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.