Metro Life Score
Albuquerque, NM
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade C, 22nd percentile of the national corpus.
- 43.2
- Life Score / 100
- C
- Grade (curved)
- #301
- of 387 metros
- 22%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
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The verdict
Albuquerque is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #301 of 387 (43.2/100, grade C, 22nd percentile). Carried by environment at 99/100; held back most by safety at 2/100.
- 22nd
- composite percentile
- #301
- of 387 peers
- 40th
- cost dimension percentile
- 65th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · signature composite
Albuquerque: bottom-third composite — where the drag concentrates
Albuquerque sits in the bottom third of the metro corpus on composite (#301 of 387, 43.2/100, 22nd percentile). Stamps LOWER · ENVIRO-LED; Safety at 2/100 is the main drag; Environment (99/100) keeps the floor. Cost/wage marks MID/MID. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Albuquerque, NM ranks #301 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #232 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 95.5 (rent-RPP 89.2). BLS median salary $66,877, 388,700 jobs (Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons). HUD 2BR FMR $1,464/mo (studio $1,009).
FBI UCR (NM): 697 violent, 2706 property/100K. NCES: 12.7:1 ratio, 11.6% charter. EPA: 21 Superfund sites (NM).
Where Albuquerque sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
43 22nd percentile higher than 22% of 387 US metros
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source PlainCompare composite of BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, EPA data · August 2026
How the 43.2 is built
Albuquerque's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Albuquerque scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are NM state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Albuquerque With...
Ranking Context
Albuquerque outranks 22% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #298 | Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR | 43.5 | C |
| #299 | Kenosha, WI | 43.5 | C |
| #300 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 43.6 | C |
| #301 | Albuquerque, NM | 43.2 | C |
| #302 | Fresno, CA | 43.2 | C |
| #303 | Visalia, CA | 43.2 | C |
| #304 | Waterbury-Shelton, CT | 43.0 | C |
Quality vs. Affordability
Albuquerque, NM is bottom 22% lowest-quality nationally and also bottom 40% least affordable -- a rarer combination among its composite-quality peers, where overall rank and affordability rank usually diverge more than this.
NM Metro Scores
Read with Albuquerque
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Albuquerque (LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · MID/MID), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Fresno, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 43.2 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · MID/MID.
Visalia, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 43.2 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · MID/MID.
Waterbury-Shelton, CT
ABS(composite) peer at 43.0 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · MID/MID.
Kenosha, WI
ABS(composite) peer at 43.5 (Δ 0.3 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · MID/MID.
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 40/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's MID.
Yakima, WA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 40/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp MID vs this metro's MID.
Albuquerque, NM relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · MID/MID - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Albuquerque's bottom-third Life Score
Albuquerque scores 43.2/100 overall, but Environment (98.7) and Safety (1.6) sit 97.2 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Environment is the strongest of Albuquerque's seven dimensions (weighted 10% in the composite); if it is your priority, this is where the metro earns its rank. See all seven dimensions
- Safety is the weakest (weighted 15% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Las Cruces is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Las Cruces
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.