Metro Life Score

Evansville, IN

Above-median composite Life Score — grade B, 67th percentile of the national corpus.

54.0
Life Score / 100
B
Grade (curved)
#126
of 387 metros
67%
composite percentile
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Data updated August 2026

The verdict

Evansville is above-median composite Life Score — #126 of 387 (54.0/100, grade B, 67th percentile). Carried by rent at 78/100; held back most by environment at 16/100.

67th
composite percentile
#126
of 387 peers
66th
cost dimension percentile
37th
wages dimension percentile

Life Score shape · UPPER · BALANCED · signature composite

Evansville: top-third composite Life Score

Evansville clears the top third of US metros on composite Life Score (#126 of 387, 54.0/100, grade B, 67th percentile). Stamps UPPER · BALANCED; cost CHEAP (66th) · wages LOW (37th). Rent at 78/100 carries the lead; Environment (16/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Evansville, IN ranks #126 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #131 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.

BEA RPP 91.5 (rent-RPP 66.7). BLS median salary $61,998, 128,000 jobs (Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons, Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand). HUD 2BR FMR $1,113/mo (studio $853).

FBI UCR (IN): 308 violent, 1321 property/100K. NCES: 15.9:1 ratio, 6.5% charter. EPA: 53 Superfund sites (IN).

Where Evansville sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

54 67th percentile higher than 67% of 387 US metros

25–30: 1 US metros (0%). Below this entry. 30–35: 7 US metros (2%). Below this entry. 35–40: 34 US metros (9%). Below this entry. 40–45: 66 US metros (17%). Below this entry. 45–50: 91 US metros (24%). Below this entry. 50–55: 77 US metros (20%). This entry sits in this band. 55–60: 60 US metros (16%). Above this entry. 60–65: 44 US metros (11%). Above this entry. 65–70: 6 US metros (2%). Above this entry. 70–75: 1 US metros (0%). Above this entry. This metro 25 75 every US metro, bucketed by value

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 Evansville scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 66/100 (20%)
Wages 37/100 (20%)
Rent 78/100 (15%)
Safety 58/100 (15%)
Schools 60/100 (10%)
Childcare -/100 (10%)
Environment 16/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

91.5
Cost Index (RPP)
$61,998
Avg Median Salary
$1,113
2BR Fair Market Rent
308
Violent Crime/100K (IN)
15.9:1
Student-Teacher Ratio
53
Superfund Sites (IN)
128,000
Total Employment

Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are IN state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.

Compare Evansville With...

Ranking Context

Evansville outranks 67% of U.S. metros.

Rank Metro Score Grade
#123 Birmingham, AL 54.1 B
#124 Longview, TX 54.2 B
#125 St. Joseph, MO-KS 54.3 B
#126 Evansville, IN 54.0 B
#127 Auburn-Opelika, AL 54.0 B
#128 Terre Haute, IN 53.9 B
#129 Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC 53.9 B

IN Metro Scores

Read with Evansville

Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Evansville (UPPER · BALANCED · CHEAP/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Evansville Life Score 54.0/100 · signature composite · retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare