Metro Life Score
Fort Collins-Loveland, CO
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade C-, 19th percentile of the national corpus.
- 42.2
- Life Score / 100
- C-
- Grade (curved)
- #314
- of 387 metros
- 19%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Fort Collins-Loveland is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #314 of 387 (42.2/100, grade C-, 19th percentile). Carried by environment at 92/100; held back most by safety at 6/100.
- 19th
- composite percentile
- #314
- of 387 peers
- 17th
- cost dimension percentile
- 85th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · signature wages
Fort Collins-Loveland: pay power is the signature
Fort Collins-Loveland stamps LOWER · ENVIRO-LED with wages at the 85th percentile of the metro corpus (PEAK) — ahead of its cost mark (DEAR, 17th) and composite #314. Environment (92/100) amplifies the lead; Safety (6/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Fort Collins-Loveland, CO ranks #314 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #323 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 101.1 (rent-RPP 120.6). BLS median salary $73,292, 149,520 jobs (Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons, Cashiers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,732/mo (studio $1,509).
FBI UCR (CO): 481 violent, 2641 property/100K. NCES: 15.7:1 ratio, 13.7% charter. DOL infant childcare $12,821/yr. EPA: 24 Superfund sites (CO).
Where Fort Collins-Loveland sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
42 19th percentile higher than 19% 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 42.2 is built
Fort Collins-Loveland's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Fort Collins-Loveland scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are CO state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Fort Collins-Loveland With...
Ranking Context
Fort Collins-Loveland outranks 19% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #311 | Reading, PA | 42.4 | C- |
| #312 | Redding, CA | 42.5 | C- |
| #313 | Manchester-Nashua, NH | 42.5 | C- |
| #314 | Fort Collins-Loveland, CO | 42.2 | C- |
| #315 | Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ | 42.2 | C- |
| #316 | Rochester, NY | 42.2 | C- |
| #317 | Hinesville, GA | 42.1 | C- |
Quality vs. Affordability
Fort Collins-Loveland, CO's quality rank (bottom 19% lowest-quality) and affordability rank (bottom 17% least affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
CO Metro Scores
Read with Fort Collins-Loveland
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Fort Collins-Loveland (LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/PEAK), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ
ABS(composite) peer at 42.2 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/PEAK.
Rochester, NY
ABS(composite) peer at 42.2 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/PEAK.
Hinesville, GA
ABS(composite) peer at 42.1 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/PEAK.
Lancaster, PA
ABS(composite) peer at 42.1 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/PEAK.
Chico, CA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 16/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Kenosha, WI (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 17/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Fort Collins-Loveland, CO relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/PEAK - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Fort Collins-Loveland's bottom-third Life Score
Fort Collins-Loveland scores 42.2/100 overall, but Environment (92.5) and Safety (6.5) sit 86.0 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Environment is the strongest of Fort Collins-Loveland'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
- Safety is the weakest (weighted 15% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Pueblo is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Pueblo
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.