Metro Life Score
Dothan, AL
Top-quartile composite Life Score — grade A-, 83rd percentile of the national corpus.
- 58.7
- Life Score / 100
- A-
- Grade (curved)
- #66
- of 387 metros
- 83%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Dothan is top-quartile composite Life Score — #66 of 387 (58.7/100, grade A-, 83rd percentile). Carried by cost of living at 99/100; held back most by environment at 1/100.
- 83rd
- composite percentile
- #66
- of 387 peers
- 99th
- cost dimension percentile
- 1st
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · UPPER · COST-LED · signature cost
Dothan: affordability leads the Life Score story
Dothan is a UPPER-band metro whose cost dimension sits at the 99th percentile of 387 US metros (FLOOR) while composite is #66 (58.7/100, grade A-). Cost of Living at 99/100 carries the upside; Environment at 1/100 is the residual drag. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Dothan, AL ranks #66 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #3 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 83.8 (rent-RPP 46.9). BLS median salary $52,967, 54,630 jobs (Retail Salespersons, Registered Nurses, Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers). HUD 2BR FMR $950/mo (studio $757).
FBI UCR (AL): 376 violent, 1622 property/100K. NCES: 17.2:1 ratio, 1.2% charter. DOL infant childcare $6,896/yr. EPA: 16 Superfund sites (AL).
Where Dothan sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
59 Top 17% higher than 83% 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 58.7 is built
Dothan's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Dothan scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are AL state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Dothan With...
Ranking Context
Dothan outranks 83% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #63 | Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH | 58.8 | A- |
| #64 | Lawton, OK | 58.8 | A- |
| #65 | Cleveland, OH | 58.8 | A- |
| #66 | Dothan, AL | 58.7 | A- |
| #67 | Rapid City, SD | 58.7 | A- |
| #68 | Columbus, GA-AL | 58.5 | A- |
| #69 | Fargo, ND-MN | 58.5 | A- |
Quality vs. Affordability
Dothan, AL is top 17% highest-quality nationally and also top 1% most affordable -- a rarer combination among its composite-quality peers, where overall rank and affordability rank usually diverge more than this.
AL Metro Scores
Read with Dothan
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Dothan (UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Rapid City, SD
ABS(composite) peer at 58.7 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A- vs this page's UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Cleveland, OH
ABS(composite) peer at 58.8 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A- vs this page's UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Lawton, OK
ABS(composite) peer at 58.8 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A- vs this page's UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH
ABS(composite) peer at 58.8 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A- vs this page's UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Texarkana, TX-AR (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 99/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Eagle Pass, TX (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 100/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Dothan, AL relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Dothan's top-third Life Score
Dothan scores 58.7/100 overall, but Cost of Living (99.5) and Environment (1.3) sit 98.2 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Cost of Living is the strongest of Dothan's seven dimensions (weighted 20% 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
- Decatur is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Decatur
A high composite is a weighted blend; it does not mean every dimension is strong.