PlainCompare

Metro Life Score

Evansville, IN

53.8
Life Score / 100
B
Grade (curved)
#146
of 387 metros
62%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

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

The verdict

Evansville ranks #146 of 387 US metros, ahead of 62% - carried by its rent (78/100) and held back most by environment (28/100).

78
strongest: Rent
66
then: Cost of Living
28
weakest: Environment
7
weighted dimensions

Where Evansville sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

54 62th percentile higher than 62% of 387 US metros

25–30: 1 US metros (0%). Below this entry. 30–35: 16 US metros (4%). Below this entry. 35–40: 46 US metros (12%). Below this entry. 40–45: 53 US metros (14%). Below this entry. 45–50: 81 US metros (21%). Below this entry. 50–55: 67 US metros (17%). This entry sits in this band. 55–60: 68 US metros (18%). Above this entry. 60–65: 40 US metros (10%). Above this entry. 65–70: 12 US metros (3%). Above this entry. 70–75: 3 US metros (1%). 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 · May 2026

How the score is built

Reading the Evansville Life Score

Evansville's composite score of 53.8 out of 100, a grade of B, places the metro at rank #146 of 387, ahead of 62% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Rent (78/100) and Cost of Living (66/100), which pull the composite upward, while Environment (28/100) and Wages (37/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

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). Ranks #143-#149 below.

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 52/100 (15%)
Schools 55/100 (10%)
Childcare -/100 (10%)
Environment 28/100 (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

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

Compare Evansville With...

Evansville vs Terre Haute Compare → Evansville vs Muncie Compare → Evansville vs Louisville/Jefferson County Compare → Evansville vs Wildwood Compare → Evansville vs Waterloo Compare → Evansville vs Paducah Compare →

Ranking Context

Evansville outranks 62% of U.S. metros.

Rank Metro Score Grade
#143 Wichita Falls, TX 53.9 B
#144 Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA 53.9 B
#145 Pittsburgh, PA 54.0 B
#146 Evansville, IN 53.8 B
#147 Salt Lake City-Murray, UT 53.8 B
#148 Janesville-Beloit, WI 53.6 B
#149 Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI 53.6 B

IN Metro Scores

Terre Haute, IN A 63.5 Muncie, IN A- 61.0 Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN A- 60.3 Kokomo, IN B+ 57.0 South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI B 55.2 Elkhart-Goshen, IN B- 52.4

Using Evansville's Life Score

Evansville 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 rent (78/100) and its weakest is environment (28/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
  • Put Evansville head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
  • See where Evansville 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 Evansville's biggest strengths? ▼
Evansville's strongest dimensions are Rent (78/100), Cost of Living (66/100), Schools (55/100). Rent is top-tier nationally.
What are Evansville's weakest areas? ▼
Evansville's lowest-scoring dimensions are Environment (28/100), Wages (37/100), Safety (52/100). Environment weighs heavily on the composite.
How expensive is Evansville compared to the national average? ▼
Evansville's Regional Price Parity is 91.5 (8.5% less than national); rent RPP 66.7.
What is the average salary in Evansville? ▼
Evansville median salary: $61,998, 128,000 jobs. Top: Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons, Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand.
How is the life score calculated? ▼
Evansville's 53.8/100 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.

Related

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

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, and EPA. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

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.