Townsend, MT

The affordability dashboard for Townsend, MT aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 4,036 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (41/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $68,811, median home value of $361,500, median rent of $1,005 per month, and 19.6% 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 $1,748 per month (studio $1,240, 1BR $1,595, 3BR $2,096, 4BR $2,856). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $11,482 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. Pressure points are education, housing. Unemployment currently reads 7.5% and poverty 16.5% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.