PlainCompare

Metro Life Score

Fond du Lac, WI

55.6
Life Score / 100
B+
Grade (curved)
#110
of 387 metros
72%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

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

The verdict

Fond du Lac ranks #110 of 387 US metros, ahead of 72% - carried by its rent (68/100) and held back most by environment (31/100).

68
strongest: Rent
66
then: Cost of Living
31
weakest: Environment
7
weighted dimensions

Where Fond du Lac sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

56 72th percentile higher than 72% 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%). Below this entry. 55–60: 68 US metros (18%). This entry sits in this band. 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 Fond du Lac Life Score

Fond du Lac's composite score of 55.6 out of 100, a grade of B+, places the metro at rank #110 of 387, ahead of 72% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Rent (68/100) and Cost of Living (66/100), which pull the composite upward, while Environment (31/100) and Childcare (42/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

BEA RPP 91.6 (rent-RPP 67.3). BLS median salary $63,055, 37,390 jobs (Fast Food and Counter Workers, Cashiers, Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators). HUD 2BR FMR $1,176/mo (studio $811).

FBI UCR (WI): 280 violent, 1157 property/100K. NCES: 14.4:1 ratio, 10.7% charter. DOL infant childcare $11,256/yr. EPA: 46 Superfund sites (WI). Ranks #107-#113 below.

Dimension detail

How Fond du Lac scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 66/100 (20%)
Wages 55/100 (20%)
Rent 68/100 (15%)
Safety 62/100 (15%)
Schools 46/100 (10%)
Childcare 42/100 (10%)
Environment 31/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

91.6
Cost Index (RPP)
$63,055
Avg Median Salary
$1,176
2BR Fair Market Rent
280
Violent Crime/100K (WI)
14.4:1
Student-Teacher Ratio
$11,256
Infant Childcare/yr (WI)
46
Superfund Sites (WI)
37,390
Total Employment

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

Compare Fond du Lac With...

Fond du Lac vs Wausau Compare → Fond du Lac vs Duluth Compare → Fond du Lac vs Oshkosh Compare → Fond du Lac vs Wildwood Compare → Fond du Lac vs Waterloo Compare → Fond du Lac vs Paducah Compare →

Ranking Context

Fond du Lac outranks 72% of U.S. metros.

Rank Metro Score Grade
#107 Flint, MI 56.1 B+
#108 Jackson, MI 56.2 B+
#109 Goldsboro, NC 56.2 B+
#110 Fond du Lac, WI 55.6 B+
#111 Kalamazoo-Portage, MI 55.6 B+
#112 Warner Robins, GA 55.6 B+
#113 Rome, GA 55.5 B+

WI Metro Scores

Wausau, WI A- 61.1 Duluth, MN-WI A- 60.2 Oshkosh-Neenah, WI A- 60.1 Sheboygan, WI A- 59.8 La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN A- 59.1 Madison, WI B+ 56.9

Using Fond du Lac's Life Score

Fond du Lac 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 (68/100) and its weakest is environment (31/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
  • Put Fond du Lac head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
  • See where Fond du Lac 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 Fond du Lac's biggest strengths? ▼
Fond du Lac's strongest dimensions are Rent (68/100), Cost of Living (66/100), Safety (62/100).
What are Fond du Lac's weakest areas? ▼
Fond du Lac's lowest-scoring dimensions are Environment (31/100), Childcare (42/100), Schools (46/100). Environment weighs heavily on the composite.
How expensive is Fond du Lac compared to the national average? ▼
Fond du Lac's Regional Price Parity is 91.6 (8.4% less than national); rent RPP 67.3.
What is the average salary in Fond du Lac? ▼
Fond du Lac median salary: $63,055, 37,390 jobs. Top: Fast Food and Counter Workers, Cashiers, Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators.
How is the life score calculated? ▼
Fond du Lac's 55.6/100 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.