Metro Life Score
Fort Smith, AR-OK
Above-median composite Life Score — grade B-, 50th percentile of the national corpus.
- 49.8
- Life Score / 100
- B-
- Grade (curved)
- #192
- of 387 metros
- 50%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Fort Smith is above-median composite Life Score — #192 of 387 (49.8/100, grade B-, 50th percentile). Carried by rent at 98/100; held back most by wages at 2/100.
- 50th
- composite percentile
- #192
- of 387 peers
- 95th
- cost dimension percentile
- 2nd
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · MID · BALANCED · signature wages
Fort Smith: wage lag defines the peer set
Fort Smith is a MID-band metro where wages sit at only the 2nd percentile (LOW) while cost is FLOOR (95th) and composite #192. Wages at 2/100 is the clearest drag; Rent (98/100) is the offset. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Fort Smith, AR-OK ranks #192 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #18 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 85.9 (rent-RPP 53.4). BLS median salary $53,744, 89,060 jobs (Retail Salespersons, Fast Food and Counter Workers, General and Operations Managers). HUD 2BR FMR $937/mo (studio $683).
FBI UCR (AR): 580 violent, 1940 property/100K. NCES: 13.4:1 ratio, 9.7% charter. EPA: 17 Superfund sites (AR).
Where Fort Smith sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
50 50th percentile higher than 50% 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 49.8 is built
Fort Smith's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Fort Smith scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are AR state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Fort Smith With...
Ranking Context
Fort Smith outranks 50% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #189 | Ogden, UT | 49.9 | B- |
| #190 | Goldsboro, NC | 49.9 | B- |
| #191 | Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI | 50.0 | B- |
| #192 | Fort Smith, AR-OK | 49.8 | B- |
| #193 | Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | 49.8 | B- |
| #194 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | 49.8 | B- |
| #195 | Bangor, ME | 49.7 | B- |
Quality vs. Affordability
Fort Smith, AR-OK is top 50% highest-quality nationally and also top 5% most affordable -- a rarer combination among its composite-quality peers, where overall rank and affordability rank usually diverge more than this.
AR Metro Scores
Read with Fort Smith
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Fort Smith (MID · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX
ABS(composite) peer at 49.8 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B- vs this page's MID · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW.
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
ABS(composite) peer at 49.8 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B- vs this page's MID · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW.
Bangor, ME
ABS(composite) peer at 49.7 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade B- vs this page's MID · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW.
Bloomington, IN
ABS(composite) peer at 49.7 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade B- vs this page's MID · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW.
Jonesboro, AR (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 96/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 95/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Fort Smith, AR-OK relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for MID · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Fort Smith's middle-third Life Score
Fort Smith scores 49.8/100 overall, but Rent (97.7) and Wages (2.1) sit 95.6 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Rent is the strongest of Fort Smith's seven dimensions (weighted 15% in the composite); if it is your priority, this is where the metro earns its rank. See all seven dimensions
- Wages is the weakest (weighted 20% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Jonesboro is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Jonesboro
A middle-third composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can sit well above or below it.