Metro Life Score

Fairbanks-College, AK

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

36.4
Life Score / 100: D
Grade (curved): #364
of 387 metros: 6%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

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

The verdict

Fairbanks ranks #364 of 387 US metros, ahead of 6% - carried by its schools (91/100) and held back most by safety (0/100).

91
strongest: Schools: 87
then: Wages: 0
weakest: Safety: 7
weighted dimensions

Where Fairbanks sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

36 6th percentile higher than 6% 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 Fairbanks Life Score

Fairbanks's composite score of 36.4 out of 100, a grade of D, places the metro at rank #364 of 387, ahead of 6% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Schools (91/100) and Wages (87/100), which pull the composite upward, while Safety (0/100) and Cost of Living (11/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

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). Ranks #361-#367 below.

Dimension detail

How Fairbanks scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 11/100 (20%)

Wages 87/100 (20%)

Rent 22/100 (15%)

Safety 0/100 (15%)

Schools 91/100 (10%)

Childcare 14/100 (10%)

Environment 29/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

103.2

Cost Index (RPP)

$73,725

Avg Median Salary

$1,676

2BR Fair Market Rent

728

Violent Crime/100K (AK)

15.2:1

Student-Teacher Ratio

$15,925

Infant Childcare/yr (AK)

Superfund Sites (AK)

28,710

Total Employment

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

Compare Fairbanks With...

Fairbanks vs Anchorage Compare → Fairbanks vs Wildwood Compare → Fairbanks vs Waterloo Compare → Fairbanks vs Paducah Compare →

Ranking Context

Fairbanks outranks 6% of U.S. metros.

Rank	Metro	Score	Grade
#361	Chico, CA	36.5	D
#362	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	36.5	D
#363	Albany, OR	36.9	D
#364	Fairbanks-College, AK	36.4	D
#365	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	36.3	D
#366	Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR	35.7	D
#367	Santa Fe, NM	35.7	D

AK Metro Scores

Anchorage, AK D 34.3

Using Fairbanks's Life Score

Fairbanks 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 schools (91/100) and its weakest is safety (0/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
Put Fairbanks head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
See where Fairbanks 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 Fairbanks's biggest strengths? ▼

Fairbanks's strongest dimensions are Schools (91/100), Wages (87/100), Environment (29/100). Schools is top-tier nationally.

What are Fairbanks's weakest areas? ▼

Fairbanks's lowest-scoring dimensions are Safety (0/100), Cost of Living (11/100), Childcare (14/100). Safety weighs heavily on the composite.

How expensive is Fairbanks compared to the national average? ▼

Fairbanks's Regional Price Parity is 103.2 (3.2% more than national); rent RPP 92.6.

What is the average salary in Fairbanks? ▼

Fairbanks median salary: $73,725, 28,710 jobs. Top: Retail Salespersons, Stockers and Order Fillers, Fast Food and Counter Workers.

How is the life score calculated? ▼

Fairbanks's 36.4/100 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.