Shawnee, KS

The affordability dashboard for Shawnee, KS aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 5 ZIP codes covering 69,474 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of A- (80/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $118,321, median home value of $355,017, median rent of $1,410 per month, and 52.9% 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 $1,358 per month (studio $1,095, 1BR $1,197, 3BR $1,769, 4BR $2,103). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $11,634 per year, consuming 10% 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. Strengths visible in the raw data for Shawnee, KS include income, education, rent, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 3.2% and poverty 5.8% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.