Metro Life Score
Carson City, NV
Below-median composite Life Score — grade C+, 39th percentile of the national corpus.
- 47.2
- Life Score / 100
- C+
- Grade (curved)
- #236
- of 387 metros
- 39%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Carson City is below-median composite Life Score — #236 of 387 (47.2/100, grade C+, 39th percentile). Carried by schools at 92/100; held back most by rent at 29/100.
- 39th
- composite percentile
- #236
- of 387 peers
- 29th
- cost dimension percentile
- 60th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · MID · SCHOOL-STRONG · signature cost
Carson City: cost pressure is the outlier
Carson City is a MID-band metro where cost sits only at the 29th percentile (DEAR) — the clearest outlier vs wages at the 60th and composite #236. Rent (29/100) is the main drag; Schools (92/100) keeps the floor. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Carson City, NV ranks #236 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #276 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 98.1 (rent-RPP 101.2). BLS median salary $66,022, 25,810 jobs (Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive, General and Operations Managers, Registered Nurses). HUD 2BR FMR $1,546/mo (studio $1,105).
FBI UCR (NV): 407 violent, 2226 property/100K. NCES: 19.0:1 ratio, 13.6% charter. DOL infant childcare $10,033/yr. EPA: 2 Superfund sites (NV).
Where Carson City sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
47 39th percentile higher than 39% 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 47.2 is built
Carson City's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Carson City scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are NV state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Carson City With...
Ranking Context
Carson City outranks 39% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #233 | Tucson, AZ | 47.3 | C+ |
| #234 | South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI | 47.3 | C+ |
| #235 | Salem, OR | 47.3 | C+ |
| #236 | Carson City, NV | 47.2 | C+ |
| #237 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 47.1 | C+ |
| #238 | Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV | 47.0 | C+ |
| #239 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | 47.0 | C+ |
Quality vs. Affordability
Carson City, NV's quality rank (bottom 39% lowest-quality) and affordability rank (bottom 29% least affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
NV Metro Scores
Read with Carson City
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Carson City (MID · SCHOOL-STRONG · DEAR/MID), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Salem, OR
ABS(composite) peer at 47.3 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · SCHOOL-STRONG · DEAR/MID.
South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI
ABS(composite) peer at 47.3 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · SCHOOL-STRONG · DEAR/MID.
Tucson, AZ
ABS(composite) peer at 47.3 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · SCHOOL-STRONG · DEAR/MID.
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
ABS(composite) peer at 47.1 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · SCHOOL-STRONG · DEAR/MID.
Raleigh-Cary, NC (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 28/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 29/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Carson City, NV relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for MID · SCHOOL-STRONG · DEAR/MID - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Carson City's middle-third Life Score
Carson City scores 47.2/100 overall, but Schools (91.7) and Rent (28.8) sit 63.0 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Schools is the strongest of Carson City'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
- Rent is the weakest (weighted 15% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Reno is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Reno
A middle-third composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can sit well above or below it.