Wooster, OH

The affordability dashboard for Wooster, OH aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 43,753 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 $69,920, median home value of $230,300, median rent of $911 per month, and 32.8% 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 $1,041 per month (studio $718, 1BR $816, 3BR $1,269, 4BR $1,491). Department of Labor data lists infant center-based childcare at $11,537 per year, consuming 17% 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 Wooster, OH include commute, rent. Unemployment currently reads 4.0% and poverty 9.2% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.