Metro Life Score
Bellingham, WA
Below-median composite Life Score — grade C, 28th percentile of the national corpus.
- 44.9
- Life Score / 100
- C
- Grade (curved)
- #280
- of 387 metros
- 28%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
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The verdict
Bellingham is below-median composite Life Score — #280 of 387 (44.9/100, grade C, 28th percentile). Carried by wages at 89/100; held back most by cost of living at 11/100.
- 28th
- composite percentile
- #280
- of 387 peers
- 11th
- cost dimension percentile
- 89th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · signature cost
Bellingham: cost pressure is the outlier
Bellingham is a LOWER-band metro where cost sits only at the 11th percentile (CEILING) — the clearest outlier vs wages at the 89th and composite #280. Cost of Living (11/100) is the main drag; Wages (89/100) keeps the floor. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Bellingham, WA ranks #280 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #346 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 103.3 (rent-RPP 112.9). BLS median salary $74,723, 82,720 jobs (Retail Salespersons, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Home Health and Personal Care Aides). HUD 2BR FMR $1,794/mo (studio $1,463).
FBI UCR (WA): 329 violent, 2498 property/100K. NCES: 17.7:1 ratio, 0.6% charter. DOL infant childcare $15,987/yr. EPA: 69 Superfund sites (WA).
Where Bellingham sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
45 28th percentile higher than 28% 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 44.9 is built
Bellingham's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Bellingham scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are WA state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Bellingham With...
Ranking Context
Bellingham outranks 28% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #277 | Burlington, NC | 45.0 | C |
| #278 | Medford, OR | 45.1 | C |
| #279 | Johnson City, TN | 45.1 | C |
| #280 | Bellingham, WA | 44.9 | C |
| #281 | Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ | 44.8 | C |
| #282 | Corvallis, OR | 44.8 | C |
| #283 | Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC | 44.7 | C |
Quality vs. Affordability
Bellingham, WA is bottom 28% lowest-quality nationally but only bottom 11% least affordable among its composite-quality peers -- its Life Score is earned mostly outside the cost dimension, not through being a budget option.
WA Metro Scores
Read with Bellingham
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Bellingham (LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ
ABS(composite) peer at 44.8 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK.
Burlington, NC
ABS(composite) peer at 45.0 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK.
Corvallis, OR
ABS(composite) peer at 44.8 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK.
Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC
ABS(composite) peer at 44.7 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK.
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 10/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Ithaca, NY (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 11/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Bellingham, WA relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Bellingham's bottom-third Life Score
Bellingham scores 44.9/100 overall, but Wages (89.1) and Cost of Living (10.6) sit 78.5 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Wages is the strongest of Bellingham'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
- Cost of Living is the weakest (weighted 20% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Yakima is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Yakima
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.