Metro Life Score
Charleston, WV
Top-5% composite Life Score — grade A+, 98th percentile of the national corpus.
- 65.3
- Life Score / 100
- A+
- Grade (curved)
- #7
- of 387 metros
- 98%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Charleston is top-5% composite Life Score — #7 of 387 (65.3/100, grade A+, 98th percentile). Carried by rent at 100/100; held back most by schools at 14/100.
- 98th
- composite percentile
- #7
- of 387 peers
- 82nd
- cost dimension percentile
- 36th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · TOP · BALANCED · signature composite
Charleston: top-third composite Life Score
Charleston clears the top third of US metros on composite Life Score (#7 of 387, 65.3/100, grade A+, 98th percentile). Stamps TOP · BALANCED; cost CHEAP (82nd) · wages LOW (36th). Rent at 100/100 carries the lead; Schools (14/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Charleston, WV ranks #7 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #69 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 88.7 (rent-RPP 51.4). BLS median salary $61,861, 94,760 jobs (Registered Nurses, Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Retail Salespersons). HUD 2BR FMR $869/mo (studio $669).
FBI UCR (WV): 242 violent, 1089 property/100K. NCES: 13.3:1 ratio, 0.6% charter. DOL infant childcare $8,974/yr. EPA: 14 Superfund sites (WV).
Where Charleston sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
65 Top 2% higher than 98% 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 65.3 is built
Charleston's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Charleston scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are WV state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Charleston With...
Ranking Context
Charleston outranks 98% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #4 | Ames, IA | 65.6 | A+ |
| #5 | St. Cloud, MN | 65.9 | A+ |
| #6 | Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH | 66.0 | A+ |
| #7 | Charleston, WV | 65.3 | A+ |
| #8 | Lexington-Fayette, KY | 64.9 | A+ |
| #9 | Elizabethtown, KY | 64.7 | A+ |
| #10 | Sioux Falls, SD-MN | 64.7 | A+ |
Quality vs. Affordability
Charleston, WV is top 2% highest-quality nationally but only top 18% most affordable among its composite-quality peers -- its Life Score is earned mostly outside the cost dimension, not through being a budget option.
WV Metro Scores
Read with Charleston
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Charleston (TOP · BALANCED · CHEAP/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Ames, IA
ABS(composite) peer at 65.6 (Δ 0.3 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A+ vs this page's TOP · BALANCED · CHEAP/LOW.
Lexington-Fayette, KY
ABS(composite) peer at 64.9 (Δ 0.4 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A+ vs this page's TOP · BALANCED · CHEAP/LOW.
Elizabethtown, KY
ABS(composite) peer at 64.7 (Δ 0.6 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A+ vs this page's TOP · BALANCED · CHEAP/LOW.
Sioux Falls, SD-MN
ABS(composite) peer at 64.7 (Δ 0.6 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A+ vs this page's TOP · BALANCED · CHEAP/LOW.
Duluth, MN-WI (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 82/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CHEAP vs this metro's CHEAP.
Owensboro, KY (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 83/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CHEAP vs this metro's CHEAP.
Charleston, WV relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for TOP · BALANCED · CHEAP/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Charleston's top-third Life Score
Charleston scores 65.3/100 overall, but Rent (99.7) and Schools (13.7) sit 86.0 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Rent is the strongest of Charleston's seven dimensions (weighted 15% in the composite); if it is your priority, this is where the metro earns its rank. See all seven dimensions
- Schools is the weakest (weighted 10% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Huntington is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Huntington
A high composite is a weighted blend; it does not mean every dimension is strong.