Seaside, OR

The affordability dashboard for Seaside, OR aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 10,021 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (41/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $60,411, median home value of $483,800, median rent of $1,086 per month, and 32.6% 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 $1,457 per month (studio $1,060, 1BR $1,110, 3BR $1,995, 4BR $2,444). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $12,068 per year, consuming 20% 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, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 6.9% and poverty 14.8% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.