Metro Life Score
Boulder, CO
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade C-, 16th percentile of the national corpus.
- 41.1
- Life Score / 100
- C-
- Grade (curved)
- #326
- of 387 metros
- 16%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
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The verdict
Boulder is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #326 of 387 (41.1/100, grade C-, 16th percentile). Carried by wages at 98/100; held back most by rent at 7/100.
- 16th
- composite percentile
- #326
- of 387 peers
- 7th
- cost dimension percentile
- 98th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · WAGE-LED · signature wages
Boulder: pay power is the signature
Boulder stamps LOWER · WAGE-LED with wages at the 98th percentile of the metro corpus (PEAK) — ahead of its cost mark (CEILING, 7th) and composite #326. Wages (98/100) amplifies the lead; Rent (7/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Boulder, CO ranks #326 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #359 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 105.2 (rent-RPP 157.0). BLS median salary $82,291, 178,320 jobs (Software Developers, Retail Salespersons, Fast Food and Counter Workers). HUD 2BR FMR $2,124/mo (studio $1,553).
FBI UCR (CO): 481 violent, 2641 property/100K. NCES: 16.6:1 ratio, 14.0% charter. DOL infant childcare $12,821/yr. EPA: 24 Superfund sites (CO).
Where Boulder sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
41 16th percentile higher than 16% 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
Dimension detail
How Boulder scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are CO state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Boulder With...
Ranking Context
Boulder outranks 16% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #323 | New Haven, CT | 41.2 | C- |
| #324 | Columbia, SC | 41.2 | C- |
| #325 | Cleveland, TN | 41.3 | C- |
| #326 | Boulder, CO | 41.1 | C- |
| #327 | Chico, CA | 41.1 | C- |
| #328 | Vineland, NJ | 41.0 | C- |
| #329 | Chattanooga, TN-GA | 40.8 | C- |
CO Metro Scores
Read with Boulder
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Boulder (LOWER · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Chico, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 41.1 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Columbia, SC
ABS(composite) peer at 41.2 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
New Haven, CT
ABS(composite) peer at 41.2 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Vineland, NJ
ABS(composite) peer at 41.0 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Anchorage, AK (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 7/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Stockton-Lodi, CA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 8/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Boulder, CO relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.