Waverly, IA

The affordability dashboard for Waverly, IA aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 12,131 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of B+ (78/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $85,633, median home value of $232,800, median rent of $999 per month, and 41.7% 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 $978 per month (studio $674, 1BR $745, 3BR $1,290, 4BR $1,295). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $8,283 per year, consuming 10% 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. Strengths visible in the raw data for Waverly, IA include housing, commute, rent, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 2.8% and poverty 9.1% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.