Walden, CO

The affordability dashboard for Walden, CO aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 1,300 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (45/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $49,167, median home value of $230,700, median rent of $1,713 per month, and 37.1% 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 $989 per month (studio $749, 1BR $754, 3BR $1,262, 4BR $1,551).

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, housing. Unemployment currently reads 5.3% and poverty 16.5% - numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.