Metro Life Score
Hammond, LA
Top-10% composite Life Score — grade A, 93rd percentile of the national corpus.
- 62.1
- Life Score / 100
- A
- Grade (curved)
- #29
- of 387 metros
- 93%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Hammond is top-10% composite Life Score — #29 of 387 (62.1/100, grade A, 93rd percentile). Carried by cost of living at 99/100; held back most by wages at 5/100.
- 93rd
- composite percentile
- #29
- of 387 peers
- 98th
- cost dimension percentile
- 5th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · TOP · COST-LED · signature cost
Hammond: affordability leads the Life Score story
Hammond is a TOP-band metro whose cost dimension sits at the 98th percentile of 387 US metros (FLOOR) while composite is #29 (62.1/100, grade A). Cost of Living at 99/100 carries the upside; Wages at 5/100 is the residual drag. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Hammond, LA ranks #29 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #6 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 84.5 (rent-RPP 48.2). BLS median salary $55,386, 41,250 jobs (Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Cashiers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,099/mo (studio $831).
FBI UCR (LA): 410 violent, 1773 property/100K. NCES: 13.6:1 ratio, 11.4% charter. DOL infant childcare $7,396/yr. EPA: 29 Superfund sites (LA).
Where Hammond sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
62 Top 7% higher than 93% 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 62.1 is built
Hammond's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Hammond scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are LA state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Hammond With...
Ranking Context
Hammond outranks 93% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #26 | Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA | 62.2 | A |
| #27 | Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA | 62.4 | A |
| #28 | Shreveport-Bossier City, LA | 62.7 | A |
| #29 | Hammond, LA | 62.1 | A |
| #30 | Dalton, GA | 62.0 | A |
| #31 | Iowa City, IA | 62.0 | A |
| #32 | Omaha, NE-IA | 61.9 | A |
Quality vs. Affordability
Hammond, LA's quality rank (top 7% highest-quality) and affordability rank (top 2% most affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
LA Metro Scores
Read with Hammond
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Hammond (TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Dalton, GA
ABS(composite) peer at 62.0 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A vs this page's TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA
ABS(composite) peer at 62.2 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A vs this page's TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Iowa City, IA
ABS(composite) peer at 62.0 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A vs this page's TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Omaha, NE-IA
ABS(composite) peer at 61.9 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A vs this page's TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Enid, OK * (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 99/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Shreveport-Bossier City, LA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 98/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Hammond, LA relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Hammond's top-third Life Score
Hammond scores 62.1/100 overall, but Cost of Living (98.7) and Wages (4.7) sit 94.0 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Cost of Living is the strongest of Hammond'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
- 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
- Monroe is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Monroe
A high composite is a weighted blend; it does not mean every dimension is strong.