Sunderland, MD

The affordability dashboard for Sunderland, MD aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 1,694 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 $161,833, median home value of $490,500, median rent of — per month, and 29.8% 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 $2,083 per month (studio $1,811, 1BR $1,851, 3BR $2,639, 4BR $3,106). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $16,816 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 Sunderland, MD include income, rent. Unemployment currently reads 2.0% and poverty 2.4% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.