Rainier, OR

The affordability dashboard for Rainier, OR aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 6,691 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (41/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $77,171, median home value of $368,600, median rent of $969 per month, and 16.2% 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 $1,922 per month (studio $1,570, 1BR $1,677, 3BR $2,619, 4BR $3,109). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $14,190 per year, consuming 18% 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, housing, commute, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 7.8% and poverty 13.9% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.