Salem, OR

The affordability dashboard for Salem, OR aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 7 ZIP codes covering 249,657 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 $80,092, median home value of $413,535, median rent of $1,417 per month, and 28.3% 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 $1,560 per month (studio $1,181, 1BR $1,201, 3BR $2,159, 4BR $2,338). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $13,449 per year, consuming 17% 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 housing. Unemployment currently reads 5.6% and poverty 13.6% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.