Metro Life Score
Grants Pass, OR
Below-median composite Life Score — grade C+, 41st percentile of the national corpus.
- 47.6
- Life Score / 100
- C+
- Grade (curved)
- #228
- of 387 metros
- 41%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Grants Pass is below-median composite Life Score — #228 of 387 (47.6/100, grade C+, 41st percentile). Carried by schools at 76/100; held back most by childcare at 25/100.
- 41st
- composite percentile
- #228
- of 387 peers
- 30th
- cost dimension percentile
- 56th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · MID · SCHOOL-STRONG · signature cost
Grants Pass: cost pressure is the outlier
Grants Pass is a MID-band metro where cost sits only at the 30th percentile (DEAR) — the clearest outlier vs wages at the 56th and composite #228. Childcare (25/100) is the main drag; Schools (76/100) keeps the floor. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Grants Pass, OR ranks #228 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #271 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 97.8 (rent-RPP 79.9). BLS median salary $65,224, 25,220 jobs (Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Cashiers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,363/mo (studio $940).
FBI UCR (OR): 335 violent, 2410 property/100K. NCES: 17.2:1 ratio, 9.8% charter. DOL infant childcare $12,639/yr. EPA: 21 Superfund sites (OR).
Where Grants Pass sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
48 41st percentile higher than 41% 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 47.6 is built
Grants Pass's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Grants Pass scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are OR state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Grants Pass With...
Ranking Context
Grants Pass outranks 41% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #225 | Winchester, VA-WV | 47.8 | C+ |
| #226 | Naples-Marco Island, FL | 47.8 | C+ |
| #227 | Janesville-Beloit, WI | 47.8 | C+ |
| #228 | Grants Pass, OR | 47.6 | C+ |
| #229 | Hot Springs, AR | 47.5 | C+ |
| #230 | Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL | 47.5 | C+ |
| #231 | Columbus, IN | 47.4 | C+ |
Quality vs. Affordability
Grants Pass, OR's quality rank (bottom 41% lowest-quality) and affordability rank (bottom 30% least affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
OR Metro Scores
Read with Grants Pass
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Grants Pass (MID · SCHOOL-STRONG · DEAR/MID), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Hot Springs, AR
ABS(composite) peer at 47.5 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · SCHOOL-STRONG · DEAR/MID.
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL
ABS(composite) peer at 47.5 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · SCHOOL-STRONG · DEAR/MID.
Janesville-Beloit, WI
ABS(composite) peer at 47.8 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · SCHOOL-STRONG · DEAR/MID.
Naples-Marco Island, FL
ABS(composite) peer at 47.8 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · SCHOOL-STRONG · DEAR/MID.
Richmond, VA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 30/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 30/100 (Δ 1); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Grants Pass, OR relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for MID · SCHOOL-STRONG · DEAR/MID - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Grants Pass's middle-third Life Score
Grants Pass scores 47.6/100 overall, but Schools (76.4) and Childcare (24.7) sit 51.7 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Schools is the strongest of Grants Pass'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
- Childcare is the weakest (weighted 10% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Salem is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Salem
A middle-third composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can sit well above or below it.