Metro Life Score
Gainesville, GA
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade C, 20th percentile of the national corpus.
- 42.5
- Life Score / 100
- C
- Grade (curved)
- #308
- of 387 metros
- 20%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Gainesville is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #308 of 387 (42.5/100, grade C, 20th percentile). Carried by childcare at 96/100; held back most by wages at 24/100.
- 20th
- composite percentile
- #308
- of 387 peers
- 34th
- cost dimension percentile
- 24th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · BALANCED · signature composite
Gainesville: bottom-third composite — where the drag concentrates
Gainesville sits in the bottom third of the metro corpus on composite (#308 of 387, 42.5/100, 20th percentile). Stamps LOWER · BALANCED; Wages at 24/100 is the main drag; Childcare (96/100) keeps the floor. Cost/wage marks DEAR/LOW. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Gainesville, GA ranks #308 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #255 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 96.8 (rent-RPP 93.5). BLS median salary $59,789, 93,210 jobs (Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand, Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers, Fast Food and Counter Workers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,514/mo (studio $1,177).
FBI UCR (GA): 300 violent, 1567 property/100K. NCES: 13.8:1 ratio, 4.0% charter. DOL infant childcare $6,591/yr. EPA: 23 Superfund sites (GA).
Where Gainesville sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
43 20th percentile higher than 20% 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 42.5 is built
Gainesville's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Gainesville scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are GA state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Gainesville With...
Ranking Context
Gainesville outranks 20% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #305 | Glens Falls, NY | 42.6 | C |
| #306 | Billings, MT | 42.7 | C |
| #307 | Waterbury-Shelton, CT | 43.0 | C |
| #308 | Gainesville, GA | 42.5 | C |
| #309 | Colorado Springs, CO | 42.5 | C |
| #310 | Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT | 42.5 | C |
| #311 | Manchester-Nashua, NH | 42.5 | C- |
Quality vs. Affordability
Gainesville, GA's quality rank (bottom 21% lowest-quality) and affordability rank (bottom 34% least affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
GA Metro Scores
Read with Gainesville
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Gainesville (LOWER · BALANCED · DEAR/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Colorado Springs, CO
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · BALANCED · DEAR/LOW.
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · BALANCED · DEAR/LOW.
Manchester-Nashua, NH
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · BALANCED · DEAR/LOW.
Redding, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · BALANCED · DEAR/LOW.
Great Falls, MT (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 34/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
State College, PA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 34/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Gainesville, GA relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · BALANCED · DEAR/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Gainesville's bottom-third Life Score
Gainesville scores 42.5/100 overall, but Childcare (95.9) and Wages (23.8) sit 72.0 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Childcare is the strongest of Gainesville'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
- 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
- Dalton is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Dalton
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.