PlainCompare

Metro Life Score

Albuquerque, NM

32.9
Life Score / 100
F
Grade (curved)
#379
of 387 metros
2%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census

The verdict

Albuquerque ranks #379 of 387 US metros, ahead of 2% - carried by its wages (66/100) and held back most by safety (1/100).

66
strongest: Wages
40
then: Cost of Living
1
weakest: Safety
7
weighted dimensions

Where Albuquerque sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

33 2th percentile higher than 2% of 387 US metros

25–30: 1 US metros (0%). Below this entry. 30–35: 16 US metros (4%). This entry sits in this band. 35–40: 46 US metros (12%). Above this entry. 40–45: 53 US metros (14%). Above this entry. 45–50: 81 US metros (21%). Above this entry. 50–55: 67 US metros (17%). Above this entry. 55–60: 68 US metros (18%). Above this entry. 60–65: 40 US metros (10%). Above this entry. 65–70: 12 US metros (3%). Above this entry. 70–75: 3 US metros (1%). Above this entry. This metro 25 75 every US metro, bucketed by value

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 · May 2026

How the score is built

Reading the Albuquerque Life Score

Albuquerque's composite score of 32.9 out of 100, a grade of F, places the metro at rank #379 of 387, ahead of 2% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Wages (66/100) and Cost of Living (40/100), which pull the composite upward, while Safety (1/100) and Environment (1/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

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: 14.0:1 ratio, 11.6% charter. EPA: 21 Superfund sites (NM). Ranks #376-#382 below.

Dimension detail

How Albuquerque scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 40/100 (20%)
Wages 66/100 (20%)
Rent 34/100 (15%)
Safety 1/100 (15%)
Schools 28/100 (10%)
Childcare -/100 (10%)
Environment 1/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

95.5
Cost Index (RPP)
$66,877
Avg Median Salary
$1,464
2BR Fair Market Rent
697
Violent Crime/100K (NM)
14.0:1
Student-Teacher Ratio
21
Superfund Sites (NM)
388,700
Total Employment

Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level where metro-specific data is unavailable.

Compare Albuquerque With...

Albuquerque vs Las Cruces Compare → Albuquerque vs Farmington Compare → Albuquerque vs Santa Fe Compare → Albuquerque vs Wildwood Compare → Albuquerque vs Waterloo Compare → Albuquerque vs Paducah Compare →

Ranking Context

Albuquerque outranks 2% of U.S. metros.

Rank Metro Score Grade
#376 Amherst Town-Northampton, MA 33.0 F
#377 Barnstable Town, MA 33.2 F
#378 Ithaca, NY 33.9 F
#379 Albuquerque, NM 32.9 F
#380 Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO 32.8 F
#381 Boulder, CO 32.6 F
#382 Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY 32.4 F

NM Metro Scores

Las Cruces, NM C+ 48.1 Farmington, NM C+ 45.7 Santa Fe, NM D 35.7

Using Albuquerque's Life Score

Albuquerque is a regional baseline, not a neighborhood reading, use it to shortlist, then dig into the dimensions that matter to you.

  • Its strongest dimension is wages (66/100) and its weakest is safety (1/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
  • Put Albuquerque head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
  • See where Albuquerque lands on the national rankings for cost, safety, pay and more. Browse rankings

Scores summarize federal data at the metro level; crime, schools and cost vary widely within a single metro.

Explore more

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Albuquerque's biggest strengths? ▼
Albuquerque's strongest dimensions are Wages (66/100), Cost of Living (40/100), Rent (34/100).
What are Albuquerque's weakest areas? ▼
Albuquerque's lowest-scoring dimensions are Safety (1/100), Environment (1/100), Schools (28/100). Safety weighs heavily on the composite.
How expensive is Albuquerque compared to the national average? ▼
Albuquerque's Regional Price Parity is 95.5 (4.5% less than national); rent RPP 89.2.
What is the average salary in Albuquerque? ▼
Albuquerque median salary: $66,877, 388,700 jobs. Top: Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons.
How is the life score calculated? ▼
Albuquerque's 32.9/100 blends 7 federal-data dimensions - see our methodology page for the weighting.

Research Guides

Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, and EPA. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.

Related

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, and EPA. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

All federal data sources used on this page
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - multi-dimension demographic + housing + income aggregates for cross-area comparison. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • BEA Regional Economic Accounts - GDP, personal income, employment by state and metro. bea.gov/data/regional
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) - wage estimates for comparable-area indexing. bls.gov/oes
  • FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) - crime statistics for safety-score component. fbi.gov/ucr
  • NCES Common Core of Data - public-school quality indicators by area. nces.ed.gov/ccd
  • EPA AirNow + Air Quality System (AQS) - air-quality measurements by area. epa.gov/outdoor-air-quality-data
  • HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR) - county and metro housing-cost indicators. huduser.gov/datasets/fmr

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 metro's Life Score is computed directly from the 7 federal sources cited above. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026.