Waynesville, MO

The affordability dashboard for Waynesville, MO aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 12,307 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of B- (67/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $76,626, median home value of $226,400, median rent of $1,143 per month, and 31.4% 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 $1,062 per month (studio $789, 1BR $809, 3BR $1,477, 4BR $1,699).

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 Waynesville, MO include rent. Unemployment currently reads 4.1% and poverty 12.4% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.