Shell Lake, WI

The affordability dashboard for Shell Lake, WI aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 3,105 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of C+ (62/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $69,342, median home value of $241,000, median rent of $644 per month, and 29.6% 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 $975 per month (studio $672, 1BR $743, 3BR $1,169, 4BR $1,291). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $9,464 per year, consuming 14% 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 Shell Lake, WI include rent. Unemployment currently reads 1.8% and poverty 8.3% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.