Stony Brook, NY

The affordability dashboard for Stony Brook, NY aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 2 ZIP codes covering 21,676 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of B+ (79/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $171,133, median home value of $624,000, median rent of $3,501 per month, and 74.3% 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 $2,747 per month (studio $1,992, 1BR $2,379, 3BR $3,563, 4BR $3,768). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $16,900 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 Stony Brook, NY include income, education, rent, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 7.5% and poverty 6.9% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.