Princeton, IL

The affordability dashboard for Princeton, IL aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 11,281 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of B- (67/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $68,243, median home value of $152,900, median rent of $794 per month, and 28.5% 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 $1,035 per month (studio $714, 1BR $789, 3BR $1,278, 4BR $1,433). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $10,773 per year, consuming 16% 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 Princeton, IL include housing, commute, rent. Unemployment currently reads 5.1% and poverty 11.9% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.