Metro Life Score
Chattanooga, TN-GA
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade C-, 15th percentile of the national corpus.
- 40.8
- Life Score / 100
- C-
- Grade (curved)
- #329
- of 387 metros
- 15%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Chattanooga is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #329 of 387 (40.8/100, grade C-, 15th percentile). Carried by childcare at 69/100; held back most by safety at 4/100.
- 15th
- composite percentile
- #329
- of 387 peers
- 67th
- cost dimension percentile
- 35th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · BALANCED · signature composite
Chattanooga: bottom-third composite — where the drag concentrates
Chattanooga sits in the bottom third of the metro corpus on composite (#329 of 387, 40.8/100, 14th percentile). Stamps LOWER · BALANCED; Safety at 4/100 is the main drag; Childcare (69/100) keeps the floor. Cost/wage marks CHEAP/LOW. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Chattanooga, TN-GA ranks #329 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #129 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 91.5 (rent-RPP 76.5). BLS median salary $61,856, 261,210 jobs (Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand). HUD 2BR FMR $1,390/mo (studio $1,211).
FBI UCR (TN): 602 violent, 2058 property/100K. NCES: 15.2:1 ratio, 6.2% charter. DOL infant childcare $7,860/yr. EPA: 26 Superfund sites (TN).
Where Chattanooga sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
41 15th percentile higher than 15% 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 40.8 is built
Chattanooga's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Chattanooga scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are TN state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Chattanooga With...
Ranking Context
Chattanooga outranks 15% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #326 | Vineland, NJ | 41.0 | C- |
| #327 | Chico, CA | 41.1 | C- |
| #328 | Boulder, CO | 41.1 | C- |
| #329 | Chattanooga, TN-GA | 40.8 | C- |
| #330 | Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL | 40.8 | C- |
| #331 | Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ | 40.8 | C- |
| #332 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | 40.8 | C- |
Quality vs. Affordability
Chattanooga, TN-GA is bottom 15% lowest-quality nationally and also top 33% most affordable -- a rarer combination among its composite-quality peers, where overall rank and affordability rank usually diverge more than this.
TN Metro Scores
Read with Chattanooga
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Chattanooga (LOWER · BALANCED · CHEAP/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL
ABS(composite) peer at 40.8 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · BALANCED · CHEAP/LOW.
Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ
ABS(composite) peer at 40.8 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · BALANCED · CHEAP/LOW.
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 40.8 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · BALANCED · CHEAP/LOW.
Yuba City, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 40.8 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · BALANCED · CHEAP/LOW.
Iowa City, IA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 67/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CHEAP vs this metro's CHEAP.
Toledo, OH (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 67/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CHEAP vs this metro's CHEAP.
Chattanooga, TN-GA relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · BALANCED · CHEAP/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Chattanooga's bottom-third Life Score
Chattanooga scores 40.8/100 overall, but Childcare (68.8) and Safety (4.1) sit 64.7 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Childcare is the strongest of Chattanooga'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
- Safety is the weakest (weighted 15% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Kingsport is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Kingsport
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.