Metro Life Score
Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL
Top-quartile composite Life Score — grade B+, 81st percentile of the national corpus.
- 58.2
- Life Score / 100
- B+
- Grade (curved)
- #72
- of 387 metros
- 81%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
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The verdict
Florence-Muscle Shoals is top-quartile composite Life Score — #72 of 387 (58.2/100, grade B+, 81st percentile). Carried by cost of living at 98/100; held back most by environment at 2/100.
- 81st
- composite percentile
- #72
- of 387 peers
- 98th
- cost dimension percentile
- 4th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · UPPER · COST-LED · signature cost
Florence-Muscle Shoals: affordability leads the Life Score story
Florence-Muscle Shoals is a UPPER-band metro whose cost dimension sits at the 98th percentile of 387 US metros (FLOOR) while composite is #72 (58.2/100, grade B+). Cost of Living at 98/100 carries the upside; Environment at 2/100 is the residual drag. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL ranks #72 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #8 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 84.8 (rent-RPP 47.7). BLS median salary $54,891, 48,280 jobs (Retail Salespersons, Cashiers, Registered Nurses). HUD 2BR FMR $1,000/mo (studio $698).
FBI UCR (AL): 376 violent, 1622 property/100K. NCES: 17.7:1 ratio, 1.2% charter. DOL infant childcare $6,896/yr. EPA: 16 Superfund sites (AL).
Where Florence-Muscle Shoals sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
58 Top 19% higher than 81% 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 Florence-Muscle Shoals scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are AL state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Florence-Muscle Shoals With...
Ranking Context
Florence-Muscle Shoals outranks 81% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #69 | Lawrence, KS | 58.4 | B+ |
| #70 | New Orleans-Metairie, LA | 58.5 | B+ |
| #71 | Fargo, ND-MN | 58.5 | A- |
| #72 | Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL | 58.2 | B+ |
| #73 | Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC | 58.1 | B+ |
| #74 | Gadsden, AL | 58.1 | B+ |
| #75 | Jackson, MS | 58.1 | B+ |
AL Metro Scores
Read with Florence-Muscle Shoals
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Florence-Muscle Shoals (UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC
ABS(composite) peer at 58.1 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade B+ vs this page's UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Gadsden, AL
ABS(composite) peer at 58.1 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade B+ vs this page's UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Jackson, MS
ABS(composite) peer at 58.1 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade B+ vs this page's UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Lawrence, KS
ABS(composite) peer at 58.4 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B+ vs this page's UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Shreveport-Bossier City, LA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 98/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 98/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.