Rocky Ford, CO

The affordability dashboard for Rocky Ford, CO aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 5,670 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of C- (52/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $50,028, median home value of $154,800, median rent of $930 per month, and 13.8% 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 $973 per month (studio $737, 1BR $742, 3BR $1,303, 4BR $1,632). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $5,400 per year, consuming 11% 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 8.2% and poverty 25.1% - numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.