Comparison tool
Compare any two places, side by side
Pick two metros or two states and see every dimension head to head, cost of living, rent, crime, wages, schools, childcare and environment, each scored on the same national federal lens.
- 387
- Metros
- 51
- States
- 7
- Dimensions
- 6
- Federal sources
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and five other federal agencies, the 387 metro areas covered here span 74,691 possible head-to-head match-ups, all drawn from data current to May 2026. Every figure traces to a named federal source, documented in our methodology.
What you can compare
Run any of 0.1 million possible metro match-ups, or any pair of 51 states, on one consistent 7-dimension scorecard.
- 387
- metros, fully scored
- 51
- states, same lens
- 7
- dimensions per place
- 6
- federal data sources
Compare two metros
Compare two states
How the 387 metros grade out
Grades are relative to the national field, so the curve centres on the C–B range, the badges on each comparison below read against this spread.
Affordability vs pay, where the 387 metros sit
Every metro plotted by how affordable it is (rightward) against how high its wages run (upward). Most places trade one for the other, the rare gold metros clear the top third on both. Pick any two below to see them head-to-head.
Popular metro comparisons
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim vs New York-Newark-Jersey City D D
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin vs New York-Newark-Jersey City C- D
- Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington vs New York-Newark-Jersey City C- D
- Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands vs New York-Newark-Jersey City B D
- New York-Newark-Jersey City vs Washington-Arlington-Alexandria D C+
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach vs New York-Newark-Jersey City C+ D
- New York-Newark-Jersey City vs Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington D C
- Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell vs New York-Newark-Jersey City C D
- New York-Newark-Jersey City vs Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler D C-
- Boston-Cambridge-Newton vs New York-Newark-Jersey City F D
- New York-Newark-Jersey City vs San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont D C-
- New York-Newark-Jersey City vs Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario D C-
- Detroit-Warren-Dearborn vs New York-Newark-Jersey City C+ D
- New York-Newark-Jersey City vs Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue D C
- Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington vs New York-Newark-Jersey City C+ D
- New York-Newark-Jersey City vs San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad D C-
- New York-Newark-Jersey City vs Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater D B-
- Denver-Aurora-Centennial vs New York-Newark-Jersey City F D
Popular state comparisons
- California vs Texas F B
- California vs Florida F C-
- California vs New York F C-
- California vs Pennsylvania F B-
- California vs Illinois F B-
- California vs Ohio F B+
- California vs Georgia F C+
- California vs North Carolina F A-
- California vs Michigan F B
- California vs New Jersey F C
- California vs Virginia F B
- California vs Washington F C+
Or browse the full data
Getting the most from a comparison
Pick the two places you're actually deciding between, the side-by-side view is sharpest when the contest is real.
- Compare metros for a move, or states for a tax-and-policy picture, each uses the same seven-dimension lens. Or start from a ranking
- Every dimension links back to its federal source, so you can verify any number yourself. How it is sourced
- New to comparing places with data? The guides walk through how to weigh each factor. Read the guides
Scores are metro- or state-level baselines; neighborhood conditions vary widely within any place.
Every figure on PlainCompare is loaded directly from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OEWS, NCES, DOL, EPA, and the Census Bureau, no number is typed in by an editor. This comparison tool draws directly from the same 7 federal sources used across PlainCompare. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026.