Metro Life Score
Cleveland, OH
Top-quartile composite Life Score — grade A-, 84th percentile of the national corpus.
- 58.8
- Life Score / 100
- A-
- Grade (curved)
- #63
- of 387 metros
- 84%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Cleveland is top-quartile composite Life Score — #63 of 387 (58.8/100, grade A-, 84th percentile). Carried by rent at 90/100; held back most by environment at 4/100.
- 84th
- composite percentile
- #63
- of 387 peers
- 47th
- cost dimension percentile
- 67th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · UPPER · BALANCED · signature composite
Cleveland: top-third composite Life Score
Cleveland clears the top third of US metros on composite Life Score (#63 of 387, 58.8/100, grade A-, 83rd percentile). Stamps UPPER · BALANCED; cost MID (47th) · wages HIGH (67th). Rent at 90/100 carries the lead; Environment (4/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Cleveland, OH ranks #63 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #205 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 93.9 (rent-RPP 79.4). BLS median salary $67,639, 1,014,330 jobs (General and Operations Managers, Registered Nurses, Fast Food and Counter Workers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,037/mo (studio $715).
FBI UCR (OH): 293 violent, 1545 property/100K. NCES: 17.4:1 ratio, 9.3% charter. DOL infant childcare $11,791/yr. EPA: 50 Superfund sites (OH).
Where Cleveland sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
59 Top 16% higher than 84% 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 58.8 is built
Cleveland's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Cleveland scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are OH state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Cleveland With...
Ranking Context
Cleveland outranks 84% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #60 | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX | 58.9 | A- |
| #61 | Johnstown, PA | 58.9 | A- |
| #62 | Brownsville-Harlingen, TX | 58.9 | A- |
| #63 | Cleveland, OH | 58.8 | A- |
| #64 | Lawton, OK | 58.8 | A- |
| #65 | Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH | 58.8 | A- |
| #66 | Dothan, AL | 58.7 | A- |
Quality vs. Affordability
Cleveland, OH is top 16% highest-quality nationally but only bottom 47% least affordable among its composite-quality peers -- its Life Score is earned mostly outside the cost dimension, not through being a budget option.
OH Metro Scores
Read with Cleveland
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Cleveland (UPPER · BALANCED · MID/HIGH), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Lawton, OK
ABS(composite) peer at 58.8 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A- vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · MID/HIGH.
Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH
ABS(composite) peer at 58.8 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A- vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · MID/HIGH.
Dothan, AL
ABS(composite) peer at 58.7 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A- vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · MID/HIGH.
Rapid City, SD
ABS(composite) peer at 58.7 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A- vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · MID/HIGH.
Hinesville, GA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 47/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp MID vs this metro's MID.
Tallahassee, FL (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 47/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp MID vs this metro's MID.
Cleveland, OH relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for UPPER · BALANCED · MID/HIGH - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Cleveland's top-third Life Score
Cleveland scores 58.8/100 overall, but Rent (90.2) and Environment (4.4) sit 85.8 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Rent is the strongest of Cleveland'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
- Environment is the weakest (weighted 10% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Toledo is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Toledo
A high composite is a weighted blend; it does not mean every dimension is strong.