Tar Heel, NC

The affordability dashboard for Tar Heel, NC aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 1,579 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of F (33/100). The headline inputs are median household income of —, median home value of $116,100, median rent of $908 per month, and 22.0% 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 $925 per month (studio $700, 1BR $705, 3BR $1,258, 4BR $1,298). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $5,692 per year.

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 education. Unemployment currently reads 0.1% and poverty 44.8% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.