Waynesville, NC

The affordability dashboard for Waynesville, NC aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 2 ZIP codes covering 28,052 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 $59,998, median home value of $301,070, median rent of $1,087 per month, and 32.2% 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 $1,230 per month (studio $1,039, 1BR $1,122, 3BR $1,475, 4BR $1,844). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $10,572 per year, consuming 18% 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. Pressure points are housing. Unemployment currently reads 3.9% and poverty 12.4% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.