Russell, AR

The affordability dashboard for Russell, AR aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 216 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of F (21/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $22,917, median home value of $75,000, median rent of $298 per month, and 1.3% 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 $880 per month (studio $630, 1BR $734, 3BR $1,149, 4BR $1,165).

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, rent. Unemployment currently reads 11.4% and poverty 53.2% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.