PlainCompare

Metro Life Score

Bowling Green, KY

58.0
Life Score / 100
B+
Grade (curved)
#81
of 387 metros
79%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census

The verdict

Bowling Green ranks #81 of 387 US metros, ahead of 79% - carried by its rent (93/100) and held back most by environment (11/100).

93
strongest: Rent
90
then: Childcare
11
weakest: Environment
7
weighted dimensions

Where Bowling Green sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

58 Top 21% higher than 79% of 387 US metros

25–30: 1 US metros (0%). Below this entry. 30–35: 16 US metros (4%). Below this entry. 35–40: 46 US metros (12%). Below this entry. 40–45: 53 US metros (14%). Below this entry. 45–50: 81 US metros (21%). Below this entry. 50–55: 67 US metros (17%). Below this entry. 55–60: 68 US metros (18%). This entry sits in this band. 60–65: 40 US metros (10%). Above this entry. 65–70: 12 US metros (3%). Above this entry. 70–75: 3 US metros (1%). Above this entry. This metro 25 75 every US metro, bucketed by value

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 · May 2026

How the score is built

Reading the Bowling Green Life Score

Bowling Green's composite score of 58.0 out of 100, a grade of B+, places the metro at rank #81 of 387, ahead of 79% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Rent (93/100) and Childcare (90/100), which pull the composite upward, while Environment (11/100) and Wages (13/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

BEA RPP 90.2 (rent-RPP 63.4). BLS median salary $57,585, 74,850 jobs (Retail Salespersons, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand). HUD 2BR FMR $996/mo (studio $759).

FBI UCR (KY): 225 violent, 1397 property/100K. NCES: 15.2:1 ratio, 0.0% charter. DOL infant childcare $7,238/yr. EPA: 20 Superfund sites (KY). Ranks #78-#84 below.

Dimension detail

How Bowling Green scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 74/100 (20%)
Wages 13/100 (20%)
Rent 93/100 (15%)
Safety 78/100 (15%)
Schools 49/100 (10%)
Childcare 90/100 (10%)
Environment 11/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

90.2
Cost Index (RPP)
$57,585
Avg Median Salary
$996
2BR Fair Market Rent
225
Violent Crime/100K (KY)
15.2:1
Student-Teacher Ratio
$7,238
Infant Childcare/yr (KY)
20
Superfund Sites (KY)
74,850
Total Employment

Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level where metro-specific data is unavailable.

Compare Bowling Green With...

Bowling Green vs Paducah Compare → Bowling Green vs Owensboro Compare → Bowling Green vs Elizabethtown Compare → Bowling Green vs Wildwood Compare → Bowling Green vs Waterloo Compare →

Ranking Context

Bowling Green outranks 79% of U.S. metros.

Rank Metro Score Grade
#78 Waco, TX 58.2 B+
#79 Cleveland, OH 58.2 B+
#80 Idaho Falls, ID 58.4 B+
#81 Bowling Green, KY 58.0 B+
#82 Fayetteville, NC 58.0 B+
#83 Gulfport-Biloxi, MS 58.0 B+
#84 Hammond, LA 57.8 B+

KY Metro Scores

Paducah, KY-IL A+ 70.0 Owensboro, KY A 63.4 Elizabethtown, KY A 61.4 Lexington-Fayette, KY A- 60.7 Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH A- 60.5 Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN A- 60.3

Using Bowling Green's Life Score

Bowling Green is a regional baseline, not a neighborhood reading, use it to shortlist, then dig into the dimensions that matter to you.

  • Its strongest dimension is rent (93/100) and its weakest is environment (11/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
  • Put Bowling Green head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
  • See where Bowling Green lands on the national rankings for cost, safety, pay and more. Browse rankings

Scores summarize federal data at the metro level; crime, schools and cost vary widely within a single metro.

Explore more

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Bowling Green's biggest strengths? ▼
Bowling Green's strongest dimensions are Rent (93/100), Childcare (90/100), Safety (78/100). Rent is top-tier nationally.
What are Bowling Green's weakest areas? ▼
Bowling Green's lowest-scoring dimensions are Environment (11/100), Wages (13/100), Schools (49/100). Environment weighs heavily on the composite.
How expensive is Bowling Green compared to the national average? ▼
Bowling Green's Regional Price Parity is 90.2 (9.8% less than national); rent RPP 63.4.
What is the average salary in Bowling Green? ▼
Bowling Green median salary: $57,585, 74,850 jobs. Top: Retail Salespersons, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand.
How is the life score calculated? ▼
Bowling Green's 58.0/100 blends 7 federal-data dimensions - see our methodology page for the weighting.

Research Guides

Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, and EPA. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.

Related

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, and EPA. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

All federal data sources used on this page
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - multi-dimension demographic + housing + income aggregates for cross-area comparison. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • BEA Regional Economic Accounts - GDP, personal income, employment by state and metro. bea.gov/data/regional
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) - wage estimates for comparable-area indexing. bls.gov/oes
  • FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) - crime statistics for safety-score component. fbi.gov/ucr
  • NCES Common Core of Data - public-school quality indicators by area. nces.ed.gov/ccd
  • EPA AirNow + Air Quality System (AQS) - air-quality measurements by area. epa.gov/outdoor-air-quality-data
  • HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR) - county and metro housing-cost indicators. huduser.gov/datasets/fmr

Every figure on PlainCompare is loaded directly from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OEWS, NCES, DOL, EPA, and the Census Bureau, no number is typed in by an editor. This metro's Life Score is computed directly from the 7 federal sources cited above. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026.