Metro Life Score
Glens Falls, NY
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade C, 21st percentile of the national corpus.
- 42.6
- Life Score / 100
- C
- Grade (curved)
- #306
- of 387 metros
- 21%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
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The verdict
Glens Falls is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #306 of 387 (42.6/100, grade C, 21st percentile). Carried by wages at 63/100; held back most by schools at 4/100.
- 21st
- composite percentile
- #306
- of 387 peers
- 44th
- cost dimension percentile
- 63rd
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · WAGE-LED · signature composite
Glens Falls: bottom-third composite — where the drag concentrates
Glens Falls sits in the bottom third of the metro corpus on composite (#306 of 387, 42.6/100, 21st percentile). Stamps LOWER · WAGE-LED; Schools at 4/100 is the main drag; Wages (63/100) keeps the floor. Cost/wage marks MID/MID. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Glens Falls, NY ranks #306 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #218 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 94.9 (rent-RPP 76.2). BLS median salary $66,652, 44,620 jobs (Retail Salespersons, Cashiers, Home Health and Personal Care Aides). HUD 2BR FMR $1,348/mo (studio $1,041).
FBI UCR (NY): 380 violent, 1661 property/100K. NCES: 11.4:1 ratio, 7.1% charter. DOL infant childcare $13,869/yr. EPA: 122 Superfund sites (NY).
Where Glens Falls sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
43 21st percentile higher than 21% 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 42.6 is built
Glens Falls's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Glens Falls scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are NY state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Glens Falls With...
Ranking Context
Glens Falls outranks 21% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #303 | Billings, MT | 42.7 | C |
| #304 | Waterbury-Shelton, CT | 43.0 | C |
| #305 | Visalia, CA | 43.2 | C |
| #306 | Glens Falls, NY | 42.6 | C |
| #307 | Colorado Springs, CO | 42.5 | C |
| #308 | Gainesville, GA | 42.5 | C |
| #309 | Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT | 42.5 | C |
Quality vs. Affordability
Glens Falls, NY is bottom 21% lowest-quality nationally and also bottom 44% least affordable -- a rarer combination among its composite-quality peers, where overall rank and affordability rank usually diverge more than this.
NY Metro Scores
Read with Glens Falls
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Glens Falls (LOWER · WAGE-LED · MID/MID), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Billings, MT
ABS(composite) peer at 42.7 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · WAGE-LED · MID/MID.
Colorado Springs, CO
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · WAGE-LED · MID/MID.
Gainesville, GA
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · WAGE-LED · MID/MID.
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · WAGE-LED · MID/MID.
Harrisonburg, VA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 44/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp MID vs this metro's MID.
Kalamazoo-Portage, MI (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 44/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp MID vs this metro's MID.
Glens Falls, NY relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · WAGE-LED · MID/MID - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Glens Falls's bottom-third Life Score
Glens Falls scores 42.6/100 overall, but Wages (63.0) and Schools (3.9) sit 59.1 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Wages is the strongest of Glens Falls's seven dimensions (weighted 20% in the composite); if it is your priority, this is where the metro earns its rank. See all seven dimensions
- Schools is the weakest (weighted 10% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Binghamton is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Binghamton
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.