Metro Life Score
Colorado Springs, CO
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade C, 21st percentile of the national corpus.
- 42.5
- Life Score / 100
- C
- Grade (curved)
- #307
- of 387 metros
- 21%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
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The verdict
Colorado Springs is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #307 of 387 (42.5/100, grade C, 21st percentile). Carried by environment at 92/100; held back most by safety at 7/100.
- 21st
- composite percentile
- #307
- of 387 peers
- 19th
- cost dimension percentile
- 84th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · signature wages
Colorado Springs: pay power is the signature
Colorado Springs stamps LOWER · ENVIRO-LED with wages at the 84th percentile of the metro corpus (HIGH) — ahead of its cost mark (DEAR, 19th) and composite #307. Environment (92/100) amplifies the lead; Safety (7/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Colorado Springs, CO ranks #307 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #312 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 100.7 (rent-RPP 116.2). BLS median salary $72,907, 304,920 jobs (Fast Food and Counter Workers, Stockers and Order Fillers, Retail Salespersons). HUD 2BR FMR $1,735/mo (studio $1,196).
FBI UCR (CO): 481 violent, 2641 property/100K. NCES: 16.6:1 ratio, 14.0% charter. DOL infant childcare $12,821/yr. EPA: 24 Superfund sites (CO).
Where Colorado Springs sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
43 21st percentile higher than 21% 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
Dimension detail
How Colorado Springs scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are CO state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Colorado Springs With...
Ranking Context
Colorado Springs outranks 21% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #304 | Glens Falls, NY | 42.6 | C |
| #305 | Billings, MT | 42.7 | C |
| #306 | Waterbury-Shelton, CT | 43.0 | C |
| #307 | Colorado Springs, CO | 42.5 | C |
| #308 | Gainesville, GA | 42.5 | C |
| #309 | Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT | 42.5 | C |
| #310 | Manchester-Nashua, NH | 42.5 | C- |
CO Metro Scores
Read with Colorado Springs
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Colorado Springs (LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/HIGH), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Gainesville, GA
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/HIGH.
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/HIGH.
Manchester-Nashua, NH
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/HIGH.
Redding, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/HIGH.
Kingston, NY (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 19/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Lexington Park, MD (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 19/100 (Δ 1); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Colorado Springs, CO relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/HIGH - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.