Metro Life Score
Gadsden, AL
Top-quartile composite Life Score — grade B+, 81st percentile of the national corpus.
- 58.1
- Life Score / 100
- B+
- Grade (curved)
- #74
- of 387 metros
- 81%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
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The verdict
Gadsden is top-quartile composite Life Score — #74 of 387 (58.1/100, grade B+, 81st percentile). Carried by rent at 98/100; held back most by wages at 0/100.
- 81st
- composite percentile
- #74
- of 387 peers
- 97th
- cost dimension percentile
- 0th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · UPPER · BALANCED · signature wages
Gadsden: wage lag defines the peer set
Gadsden is a UPPER-band metro where wages sit at only the 0th percentile (LOW) while cost is FLOOR (97th) and composite #74. Wages at 0/100 is the clearest drag; Rent (98/100) is the offset. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Gadsden, AL ranks #74 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #12 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 85.7 (rent-RPP 53.7). BLS median salary $49,412, 27,240 jobs (Registered Nurses, Retail Salespersons, Cashiers). HUD 2BR FMR $927/mo (studio $639).
FBI UCR (AL): 376 violent, 1622 property/100K. NCES: 17.2:1 ratio, 1.2% charter. DOL infant childcare $6,896/yr. EPA: 16 Superfund sites (AL).
Where Gadsden 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
How the 58.1 is built
Gadsden's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Gadsden 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 Gadsden With...
Ranking Context
Gadsden outranks 81% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #71 | Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL | 58.2 | B+ |
| #72 | Lawrence, KS | 58.4 | B+ |
| #73 | New Orleans-Metairie, LA | 58.5 | B+ |
| #74 | Gadsden, AL | 58.1 | B+ |
| #75 | Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC | 58.1 | B+ |
| #76 | Jackson, MS | 58.1 | B+ |
| #77 | Enid, OK * | 58.0 | B+ |
Quality vs. Affordability
Gadsden, AL is top 19% highest-quality nationally and also top 3% most affordable -- a rarer combination among its composite-quality peers, where overall rank and affordability rank usually diverge more than this.
AL Metro Scores
Read with Gadsden
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Gadsden (UPPER · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC
ABS(composite) peer at 58.1 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B+ vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW.
Jackson, MS
ABS(composite) peer at 58.1 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B+ vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW.
Enid, OK *
ABS(composite) peer at 58.0 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade B+ vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW.
Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL
ABS(composite) peer at 58.2 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B+ vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW.
Alexandria, LA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 97/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Jackson, TN (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 97/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Gadsden, AL relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for UPPER · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Gadsden's top-third Life Score
Gadsden scores 58.1/100 overall, but Rent (98.2) and Wages (0.3) sit 97.9 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Rent is the strongest of Gadsden'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
- Decatur is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Decatur
A high composite is a weighted blend; it does not mean every dimension is strong.