Metro Life Score
Dalton, GA
Top-10% composite Life Score — grade A, 92nd percentile of the national corpus.
- 62.0
- Life Score / 100
- A
- Grade (curved)
- #30
- of 387 metros
- 92%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Dalton is top-10% composite Life Score — #30 of 387 (62.0/100, grade A, 92nd percentile). Carried by childcare at 96/100; held back most by schools at 34/100.
- 92nd
- composite percentile
- #30
- of 387 peers
- 75th
- cost dimension percentile
- 34th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · TOP · BALANCED · signature composite
Dalton: top-third composite Life Score
Dalton clears the top third of US metros on composite Life Score (#30 of 387, 62.0/100, grade A, 92nd percentile). Stamps TOP · BALANCED; cost CHEAP (75th) · wages LOW (34th). Childcare at 96/100 carries the lead; Schools (34/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Dalton, GA ranks #30 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #96 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 89.8 (rent-RPP 63.3). BLS median salary $61,662, 59,390 jobs (Textile Winding, Twisting, and Drawing Out Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand, Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators). HUD 2BR FMR $1,009/mo (studio $726).
FBI UCR (GA): 300 violent, 1567 property/100K. NCES: 13.8:1 ratio, 4.0% charter. DOL infant childcare $6,591/yr. EPA: 23 Superfund sites (GA).
Where Dalton sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
62 Top 8% higher than 92% 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 62.0 is built
Dalton's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Dalton scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are GA state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Dalton With...
Ranking Context
Dalton outranks 92% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #27 | Hammond, LA | 62.1 | A |
| #28 | Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA | 62.2 | A |
| #29 | Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA | 62.4 | A |
| #30 | Dalton, GA | 62.0 | A |
| #31 | Iowa City, IA | 62.0 | A |
| #32 | Omaha, NE-IA | 61.9 | A |
| #33 | Texarkana, TX-AR | 61.9 | A |
Quality vs. Affordability
Dalton, GA is top 8% highest-quality nationally but only top 25% most affordable among its composite-quality peers -- its Life Score is earned mostly outside the cost dimension, not through being a budget option.
GA Metro Scores
Read with Dalton
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Dalton (TOP · BALANCED · CHEAP/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Iowa City, IA
ABS(composite) peer at 62.0 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A vs this page's TOP · BALANCED · CHEAP/LOW.
Hammond, LA
ABS(composite) peer at 62.1 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A vs this page's TOP · BALANCED · CHEAP/LOW.
Omaha, NE-IA
ABS(composite) peer at 61.9 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A vs this page's TOP · BALANCED · CHEAP/LOW.
Texarkana, TX-AR
ABS(composite) peer at 61.9 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A vs this page's TOP · BALANCED · CHEAP/LOW.
Victoria, TX (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 76/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CHEAP vs this metro's CHEAP.
El Paso, TX (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 75/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CHEAP vs this metro's CHEAP.
Dalton, GA relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for TOP · BALANCED · CHEAP/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Dalton's top-third Life Score
Dalton scores 62.0/100 overall, but Childcare (96.2) and Schools (34.2) sit 62.0 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Childcare is the strongest of Dalton'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
- 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
- Albany is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Albany
A high composite is a weighted blend; it does not mean every dimension is strong.