Rensselaer Falls, NY

The affordability dashboard for Rensselaer Falls, NY aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 1,244 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of B- (69/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $80,625, median home value of $98,200, median rent of $643 per month, and 26.9% 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 $1,071 per month (studio $742, 1BR $816, 3BR $1,284, 4BR $1,418). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $12,844 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 Rensselaer Falls, NY include housing, rent. Unemployment currently reads 9.0% and poverty 12.9% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.