Metro Life Score
Alexandria, LA
Top-5% composite Life Score — grade A, 95th percentile of the national corpus.
- 63.4
- Life Score / 100
- A
- Grade (curved)
- #18
- of 387 metros
- 95%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Alexandria is top-5% composite Life Score — #18 of 387 (63.4/100, grade A, 95th percentile). Carried by cost of living at 97/100; held back most by wages at 4/100.
- 95th
- composite percentile
- #18
- of 387 peers
- 97th
- cost dimension percentile
- 4th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · TOP · COST-LED · signature cost
Alexandria: affordability leads the Life Score story
Alexandria is a TOP-band metro whose cost dimension sits at the 97th percentile of 387 US metros (FLOOR) while composite is #18 (63.4/100, grade A). Cost of Living at 97/100 carries the upside; Wages at 4/100 is the residual drag. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Alexandria, LA ranks #18 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #13 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 85.7 (rent-RPP 53.7). BLS median salary $55,275, 52,940 jobs (Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Registered Nurses, Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand). HUD 2BR FMR $994/mo (studio $728).
FBI UCR (LA): 410 violent, 1773 property/100K. NCES: 13.6:1 ratio, 11.4% charter. DOL infant childcare $7,396/yr. EPA: 29 Superfund sites (LA).
Where Alexandria sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
63 Top 5% higher than 95% 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 63.4 is built
Alexandria's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Alexandria scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are LA state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Alexandria With...
Ranking Context
Alexandria outranks 95% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #15 | Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | 63.5 | A |
| #16 | Lincoln, NE | 63.8 | A |
| #17 | Lewiston, ID-WA | 64.1 | A |
| #18 | Alexandria, LA | 63.4 | A |
| #19 | Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX | 63.4 | A |
| #20 | Decatur, AL | 63.4 | A |
| #21 | Idaho Falls, ID | 63.2 | A |
Quality vs. Affordability
Alexandria, LA's quality rank (top 5% highest-quality) and affordability rank (top 3% most affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
LA Metro Scores
Read with Alexandria
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Alexandria (TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX
ABS(composite) peer at 63.4 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A vs this page's TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Decatur, AL
ABS(composite) peer at 63.4 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A vs this page's TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN
ABS(composite) peer at 63.5 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A vs this page's TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Idaho Falls, ID
ABS(composite) peer at 63.2 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A vs this page's TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Gadsden, AL (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 97/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Joplin, MO-KS (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 97/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Alexandria, LA relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Alexandria's top-third Life Score
Alexandria scores 63.4/100 overall, but Cost of Living (96.9) and Wages (4.1) sit 92.7 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Cost of Living is the strongest of Alexandria's seven dimensions (weighted 20% in the composite); if it is your priority, this is where the metro earns its rank. See all seven dimensions
- Wages is the weakest (weighted 20% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Monroe is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Monroe
A high composite is a weighted blend; it does not mean every dimension is strong.