Rayville, LA

The affordability dashboard for Rayville, LA aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 12,757 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of C- (53/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $49,668, median home value of $145,900, median rent of $909 per month, and 17.4% 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 $944 per month (studio $754, 1BR $759, 3BR $1,132, 4BR $1,344). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $6,760 per year, consuming 14% 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. Unemployment currently reads 9.0% and poverty 27.3% - numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.