Westover, MD

The affordability dashboard for Westover, MD aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 2 ZIP codes covering 5,364 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of F (38/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $50,524, median home value of $185,900, median rent of — per month, and 8.9% 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 $1,167 per month (studio $901, 1BR $907, 3BR $1,586, 4BR $1,667). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $10,848 per year, consuming 21% 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 income, education, childcare. Unemployment currently reads 6.7% and poverty 16.7% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.