Valier, IL

The affordability dashboard for Valier, IL aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 652 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of F (24/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $27,344, median home value of $78,500, median rent of $1,144 per month, and 7.1% 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 $916 per month (studio $632, 1BR $698, 3BR $1,181, 4BR $1,329). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $9,921 per year, consuming 36% 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 income, education, rent, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 7.4% and poverty 33.3% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.