Watson, MO

The affordability dashboard for Watson, MO aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 154 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (48/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $53,021, median home value of $206,600, median rent of — per month, and 19.1% 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 $888 per month (studio $660, 1BR $677, 3BR $1,065, 4BR $1,333).

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. Strengths visible in the raw data for Watson, MO include rent. Pressure points are education. Unemployment currently reads 0.0% and poverty 4.9% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.