Waterville, VT

The affordability dashboard for Waterville, VT aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 682 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of C- (51/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $67,857, median home value of $242,900, median rent of $1,110 per month, and 32.7% 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 $1,345 per month (studio $986, 1BR $1,066, 3BR $1,861, 4BR $1,868).

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 commute. Unemployment currently reads 9.2% and poverty 4.6% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.