Metro Life Score
Flagstaff, AZ
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade C-, 12th percentile of the national corpus.
- 40.3
- Life Score / 100
- C-
- Grade (curved)
- #340
- of 387 metros
- 12%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Flagstaff is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #340 of 387 (40.3/100, grade C-, 12th percentile). Carried by environment at 82/100; held back most by rent at 11/100.
- 12th
- composite percentile
- #340
- of 387 peers
- 21st
- cost dimension percentile
- 59th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · signature composite
Flagstaff: bottom-third composite — where the drag concentrates
Flagstaff sits in the bottom third of the metro corpus on composite (#340 of 387, 40.3/100, 12th percentile). Stamps LOWER · ENVIRO-LED; Rent at 11/100 is the main drag; Environment (82/100) keeps the floor. Cost/wage marks DEAR/MID. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Flagstaff, AZ ranks #340 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #306 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 100.3 (rent-RPP 109.0). BLS median salary $66,006, 58,590 jobs (Fast Food and Counter Workers, Waiters and Waitresses, General and Operations Managers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,921/mo (studio $1,597).
FBI UCR (AZ): 429 violent, 1786 property/100K. NCES: 17.2:1 ratio, 25.9% charter. DOL infant childcare $11,301/yr. EPA: 13 Superfund sites (AZ).
Where Flagstaff sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
40 12th percentile higher than 12% 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 40.3 is built
Flagstaff's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Flagstaff scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are AZ state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Flagstaff With...
Ranking Context
Flagstaff outranks 12% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #337 | Anchorage, AK | 40.4 | C- |
| #338 | Vallejo, CA | 40.5 | C- |
| #339 | Modesto, CA | 40.5 | C- |
| #340 | Flagstaff, AZ | 40.3 | C- |
| #341 | Kankakee, IL | 40.3 | C- |
| #342 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 40.1 | C- |
| #343 | Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | 40.0 | C- |
Quality vs. Affordability
Flagstaff, AZ's quality rank (bottom 12% lowest-quality) and affordability rank (bottom 21% least affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
AZ Metro Scores
Read with Flagstaff
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Flagstaff (LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/MID), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Kankakee, IL
ABS(composite) peer at 40.3 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/MID.
Anchorage, AK
ABS(composite) peer at 40.4 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/MID.
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 40.1 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/MID.
Modesto, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 40.5 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/MID.
Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 21/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 21/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Flagstaff, AZ relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/MID - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Flagstaff's bottom-third Life Score
Flagstaff scores 40.3/100 overall, but Environment (81.6) and Rent (10.9) sit 70.7 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Environment is the strongest of Flagstaff's seven dimensions (weighted 10% in the composite); if it is your priority, this is where the metro earns its rank. See all seven dimensions
- Rent is the weakest (weighted 15% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Sierra Vista is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Sierra Vista
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.