Summerville, SC

The affordability dashboard for Summerville, SC aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 2 ZIP codes covering 111,788 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of C (55/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $84,636, median home value of $336,645, median rent of $1,457 per month, and 31.6% 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 $1,787 per month (studio $1,557, 1BR $1,630, 3BR $2,222, 4BR $2,562). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $10,344 per year, consuming 12% 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, commute. Unemployment currently reads 5.0% and poverty 11.2% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.