Wells River, VT

The affordability dashboard for Wells River, VT aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 550 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of F (39/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $55,804, median home value of $275,000, median rent of $1,021 per month, and 25.1% 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 $1,362 per month (studio $1,040, 1BR $1,167, 3BR $1,757, 4BR $1,878).

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, commute. Unemployment currently reads 3.7% and poverty 29.4% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.