Stafford, TX

The affordability dashboard for Stafford, TX aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 35,897 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of C+ (60/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $75,744, median home value of $257,300, median rent of $1,532 per month, and 38.1% 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 $1,573 per month (studio $1,280, 1BR $1,323, 3BR $2,116, 4BR $2,639). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $9,620 per year, consuming 13% 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. Unemployment currently reads 6.3% and poverty 11.6% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.