Metro Life Score
Fairbanks-College, AK
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade D, 9th percentile of the national corpus.
- 39.4
- Life Score / 100
- D
- Grade (curved)
- #354
- of 387 metros
- 9%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Fairbanks-College is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #354 of 387 (39.4/100, grade D, 9th percentile). Carried by environment at 100/100; held back most by safety at 0/100.
- 9th
- composite percentile
- #354
- of 387 peers
- 11th
- cost dimension percentile
- 87th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED · signature composite
Fairbanks-College: bottom-third composite — where the drag concentrates
Fairbanks-College sits in the bottom third of the metro corpus on composite (#354 of 387, 39.4/100, 8th percentile). Stamps BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED; Safety at 0/100 is the main drag; Environment (100/100) keeps the floor. Cost/wage marks CEILING/PEAK. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Fairbanks-College, AK ranks #354 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #343 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 103.2 (rent-RPP 92.6). BLS median salary $73,725, 28,710 jobs (Retail Salespersons, Stockers and Order Fillers, Fast Food and Counter Workers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,676/mo (studio $1,156).
FBI UCR (AK): 728 violent, 1741 property/100K. NCES: 15.2:1 ratio, 6.5% charter. DOL infant childcare $15,925/yr. EPA: 9 Superfund sites (AK).
Where Fairbanks-College sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
39 9th percentile higher than 9% 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
Dimension detail
How Fairbanks-College scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are AK state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Fairbanks-College With...
Ranking Context
Fairbanks-College outranks 9% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #351 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | 39.6 | D |
| #352 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 39.7 | D |
| #353 | Missoula, MT | 39.7 | D |
| #354 | Fairbanks-College, AK | 39.4 | D |
| #355 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | 39.4 | D |
| #356 | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR | 39.3 | D |
| #357 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | 39.3 | D |
AK Metro Scores
Read with Fairbanks-College
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Fairbanks-College (BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED · CEILING/PEAK), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 39.4 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR
ABS(composite) peer at 39.3 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 39.3 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 39.3 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Naples-Marco Island, FL (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 12/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 11/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Fairbanks-College, AK relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED · CEILING/PEAK - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.