Wellston, MI

The affordability dashboard for Wellston, MI aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 1,560 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of C+ (63/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $64,070, median home value of $155,200, median rent of $826 per month, and 26.1% 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 $1,048 per month (studio $742, 1BR $799, 3BR $1,332, 4BR $1,388). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $8,427 per year, consuming 13% 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 Wellston, MI include housing, rent. Unemployment currently reads 9.3% and poverty 10.1% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.