Metro Life Score
Ann Arbor, MI
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade C, 24th percentile of the national corpus.
- 43.8
- Life Score / 100
- C
- Grade (curved)
- #295
- of 387 metros
- 24%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Ann Arbor is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #295 of 387 (43.8/100, grade C, 24th percentile). Carried by wages at 85/100; held back most by environment at 9/100.
- 24th
- composite percentile
- #295
- of 387 peers
- 18th
- cost dimension percentile
- 85th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · WAGE-LED · signature wages
Ann Arbor: pay power is the signature
Ann Arbor stamps LOWER · WAGE-LED with wages at the 85th percentile of the metro corpus (HIGH) — ahead of its cost mark (DEAR, 18th) and composite #295. Wages (85/100) amplifies the lead; Environment (9/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Ann Arbor, MI ranks #295 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #316 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 100.9 (rent-RPP 125.3). BLS median salary $73,158, 207,930 jobs (Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary, Registered Nurses, Office Clerks, General). HUD 2BR FMR $1,656/mo (studio $1,365).
FBI UCR (MI): 431 violent, 1395 property/100K. NCES: 16.7:1 ratio, 10.9% charter. DOL infant childcare $7,444/yr. EPA: 90 Superfund sites (MI).
Where Ann Arbor sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
44 24th percentile higher than 24% 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 43.8 is built
Ann Arbor's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Ann Arbor scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are MI state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Ann Arbor With...
Ranking Context
Ann Arbor outranks 24% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #292 | Salisbury, MD | 43.9 | C |
| #293 | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | 43.9 | C |
| #294 | North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL | 44.0 | C |
| #295 | Ann Arbor, MI | 43.8 | C |
| #296 | Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT | 43.8 | C |
| #297 | State College, PA | 43.7 | C |
| #298 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 43.6 | C |
Quality vs. Affordability
Ann Arbor, MI's quality rank (bottom 24% lowest-quality) and affordability rank (bottom 19% least affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
MI Metro Scores
Read with Ann Arbor
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Ann Arbor (LOWER · WAGE-LED · DEAR/HIGH), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT
ABS(composite) peer at 43.8 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · WAGE-LED · DEAR/HIGH.
State College, PA
ABS(composite) peer at 43.7 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · WAGE-LED · DEAR/HIGH.
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ
ABS(composite) peer at 43.9 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · WAGE-LED · DEAR/HIGH.
Salisbury, MD
ABS(composite) peer at 43.9 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · WAGE-LED · DEAR/HIGH.
Salt Lake City-Murray, UT (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 19/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Bakersfield-Delano, CA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 18/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Ann Arbor, MI relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · WAGE-LED · DEAR/HIGH - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Ann Arbor's bottom-third Life Score
Ann Arbor scores 43.8/100 overall, but Wages (85.0) and Environment (8.8) sit 76.2 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Wages is the strongest of Ann Arbor'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
- Environment is the weakest (weighted 10% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Battle Creek is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Battle Creek
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.