Metro Life Score
Auburn-Opelika, AL
Above-median composite Life Score — grade B, 68th percentile of the national corpus.
- 54.0
- Life Score / 100
- B
- Grade (curved)
- #125
- of 387 metros
- 68%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Auburn-Opelika is above-median composite Life Score — #125 of 387 (54.0/100, grade B, 68th percentile). Carried by childcare at 93/100; held back most by environment at 0/100.
- 68th
- composite percentile
- #125
- of 387 peers
- 87th
- cost dimension percentile
- 12th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · UPPER · BALANCED · signature wages
Auburn-Opelika: wage lag defines the peer set
Auburn-Opelika is a UPPER-band metro where wages sit at only the 12th percentile (LOW) while cost is FLOOR (87th) and composite #125. Environment at 0/100 is the clearest drag; Childcare (93/100) is the offset. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Auburn-Opelika, AL ranks #125 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #50 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 87.9 (rent-RPP 62.1). BLS median salary $57,668, 62,880 jobs (Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons, Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators). HUD 2BR FMR $1,181/mo (studio $847).
FBI UCR (AL): 376 violent, 1622 property/100K. NCES: 17.2:1 ratio, 1.2% charter. DOL infant childcare $6,896/yr. EPA: 16 Superfund sites (AL).
Where Auburn-Opelika sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
54 68th percentile higher than 68% 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 54.0 is built
Auburn-Opelika's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Auburn-Opelika scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are AL state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Auburn-Opelika With...
Ranking Context
Auburn-Opelika outranks 68% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #122 | Birmingham, AL | 54.1 | B |
| #123 | Longview, TX | 54.2 | B |
| #124 | St. Joseph, MO-KS | 54.3 | B |
| #125 | Auburn-Opelika, AL | 54.0 | B |
| #126 | Evansville, IN | 54.0 | B |
| #127 | Terre Haute, IN | 53.9 | B |
| #128 | Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC | 53.9 | B |
Quality vs. Affordability
Auburn-Opelika, AL is top 32% highest-quality nationally and also top 13% most affordable -- a rarer combination among its composite-quality peers, where overall rank and affordability rank usually diverge more than this.
AL Metro Scores
Read with Auburn-Opelika
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Auburn-Opelika (UPPER · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Evansville, IN
ABS(composite) peer at 54.0 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW.
Birmingham, AL
ABS(composite) peer at 54.1 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW.
Terre Haute, IN
ABS(composite) peer at 53.9 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade B vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW.
Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC
ABS(composite) peer at 53.9 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade B vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW.
Johnson City, TN (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 88/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Jefferson City, MO (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 87/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Auburn-Opelika, AL relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for UPPER · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Auburn-Opelika's top-third Life Score
Auburn-Opelika scores 54.0/100 overall, but Childcare (92.9) and Environment (0.3) sit 92.7 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Childcare is the strongest of Auburn-Opelika'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
- 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
- Decatur is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Decatur
A high composite is a weighted blend; it does not mean every dimension is strong.