Princeton, WV

The affordability dashboard for Princeton, WV aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 30,435 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of C- (51/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $44,793, median home value of $132,300, median rent of $798 per month, and 22.7% 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 $896 per month (studio $618, 1BR $717, 3BR $1,206, 4BR $1,258). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $8,757 per year, consuming 20% 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 income, education, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 2.1% and poverty 18.4% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.