Metro Life Score

Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL

Compiled byPlainCompare Editorial, PlainCompare Editorial Team · Updated May 16, 2026

61.7
Life Score / 100: A
Grade (curved): #37
of 387 metros: 90%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census

The verdict

Davenport ranks #37 of 387 US metros, ahead of 90% - carried by its cost of living (80/100) and held back most by environment (23/100).

80
strongest: Cost of Living: 74
then: Rent: 23
weakest: Environment: 7
weighted dimensions

Where Davenport sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

62 Top 10% higher than 90% 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 · May 2026

How the score is built

Reading the Davenport Life Score

Davenport's composite score of 61.7 out of 100, a grade of A, places the metro at rank #37 of 387, ahead of 90% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Cost of Living (80/100) and Rent (74/100), which pull the composite upward, while Environment (23/100) and Schools (44/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

BEA RPP 89.1 (rent-RPP 68.3). BLS median salary $63,304, 172,000 jobs (Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons, Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand). HUD 2BR FMR $1,143/mo (studio $817).

FBI UCR (IA): 238 violent, 1286 property/100K. NCES: 14.8:1 ratio, 0.3% charter. DOL infant childcare $8,306/yr. EPA: 25 Superfund sites (IA). Ranks #34-#40 below.

Dimension detail

How Davenport scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 80/100 (20%)

Wages 53/100 (20%)

Rent 74/100 (15%)

Safety 73/100 (15%)

Schools 44/100 (10%)

Childcare 65/100 (10%)

Environment 23/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

89.1

Cost Index (RPP)

$63,304

Avg Median Salary

$1,143

2BR Fair Market Rent

238

Violent Crime/100K (IA)

14.8:1

Student-Teacher Ratio

$8,306

Infant Childcare/yr (IA)

Superfund Sites (IA)

172,000

Total Employment

Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level where metro-specific data is unavailable.

Compare Davenport With...

Davenport vs Waterloo Compare → Davenport vs Sioux City Compare → Davenport vs Ames Compare → Davenport vs Wildwood Compare → Davenport vs Paducah Compare →

Ranking Context

Davenport outranks 90% of U.S. metros.

Rank	Metro	Score	Grade
#34	Decatur, AL	61.9	A
#35	Charleston, WV	61.9	A
#36	Topeka, KS	62.2	A
#37	Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL	61.7	A
#38	Elizabethtown, KY	61.4	A
#39	Sandusky, OH	61.4	A-
#40	Lafayette, LA	61.2	A-

IA Metro Scores

Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA A+ 71.5 Sioux City, IA-NE-SD A+ 66.7 Ames, IA A 65.2 Cedar Rapids, IA A 64.2 Dubuque, IA A 63.5 Iowa City, IA A 62.2

Using Davenport's Life Score

Davenport is a regional baseline, not a neighborhood reading, use it to shortlist, then dig into the dimensions that matter to you.

Its strongest dimension is cost of living (80/100) and its weakest is environment (23/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
Put Davenport head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
See where Davenport lands on the national rankings for cost, safety, pay and more. Browse rankings

Scores summarize federal data at the metro level; crime, schools and cost vary widely within a single metro.

Explore more

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Davenport's biggest strengths? ▼

Davenport's strongest dimensions are Cost of Living (80/100), Rent (74/100), Safety (73/100). Cost of Living is top-tier nationally.

What are Davenport's weakest areas? ▼

Davenport's lowest-scoring dimensions are Environment (23/100), Schools (44/100), Wages (53/100). Environment weighs heavily on the composite.

How expensive is Davenport compared to the national average? ▼

Davenport's Regional Price Parity is 89.1 (10.9% less than national); rent RPP 68.3.

What is the average salary in Davenport? ▼

Davenport median salary: $63,304, 172,000 jobs. Top: Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons, Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand.

How is the life score calculated? ▼

Davenport's 61.7/100 blends 7 federal-data dimensions - see our methodology page for the weighting.

Research Guides

Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, and EPA. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

All federal data sources used on this page

U.S. Census Bureau ACS - multi-dimension demographic + housing + income aggregates for cross-area comparison. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
BEA Regional Economic Accounts - GDP, personal income, employment by state and metro. bea.gov/data/regional
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) - wage estimates for comparable-area indexing. bls.gov/oes
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) - crime statistics for safety-score component. fbi.gov/ucr
NCES Common Core of Data - public-school quality indicators by area. nces.ed.gov/ccd
EPA AirNow + Air Quality System (AQS) - air-quality measurements by area. epa.gov/outdoor-air-quality-data
HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR) - county and metro housing-cost indicators. huduser.gov/datasets/fmr

Every figure on PlainCompare is loaded directly from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OEWS, NCES, DOL, EPA, and the Census Bureau, no number is typed in by an editor. This metro's Life Score is computed directly from the 7 federal sources cited above. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026.