Salisbury, NC

The affordability dashboard for Salisbury, NC aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 3 ZIP codes covering 77,045 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of C- (51/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $62,562, median home value of $247,658, median rent of $1,030 per month, and 25.8% 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 $1,196 per month (studio $952, 1BR $958, 3BR $1,573, 4BR $2,006). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $10,352 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 5.8% and poverty 19.2% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.