Sunset Beach, CA

The affordability dashboard for Sunset Beach, CA aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 831 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of B (70/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $122,250, median home value of —, median rent of $2,410 per month, and 72.3% 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 $3,236 per month (studio $2,682, 1BR $2,746, 3BR $4,393, 4BR $5,246). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $20,473 per year, consuming 17% 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 Sunset Beach, CA include income, education. Unemployment currently reads 0.0% and poverty 0.0% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.