Metro Life Score
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade C, 20th percentile of the national corpus.
- 42.5
- Life Score / 100
- C
- Grade (curved)
- #309
- 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
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #309 of 387 (42.5/100, grade C, 20th percentile). Carried by safety at 99/100; held back most by schools at 9/100.
- 20th
- composite percentile
- #309
- of 387 peers
- 12th
- cost dimension percentile
- 93rd
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · SAFE-LED · signature wages
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford: pay power is the signature
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford stamps LOWER · SAFE-LED with wages at the 93rd percentile of the metro corpus (PEAK) — ahead of its cost mark (CEILING, 12th) and composite #309. Safety (99/100) amplifies the lead; Schools (9/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT ranks #309 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #339 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 102.7 (rent-RPP 110.2). BLS median salary $77,770, 587,310 jobs (Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Retail Salespersons, Registered Nurses). HUD 2BR FMR $1,865/mo (studio $1,286).
FBI UCR (CT): 139 violent, 1397 property/100K. NCES: 12.2:1 ratio, 2.1% charter. DOL infant childcare $17,127/yr. EPA: 17 Superfund sites (CT).
Where Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford 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
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are CT state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford With...
Ranking Context
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford outranks 20% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #306 | Glens Falls, NY | 42.6 | C |
| #307 | Billings, MT | 42.7 | C |
| #308 | Waterbury-Shelton, CT | 43.0 | C |
| #309 | Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT | 42.5 | C |
| #310 | Colorado Springs, CO | 42.5 | C |
| #311 | Gainesville, GA | 42.5 | C |
| #312 | Manchester-Nashua, NH | 42.5 | C- |
Quality vs. Affordability
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT's quality rank (bottom 20% lowest-quality) and affordability rank (bottom 13% least affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
CT Metro Scores
Read with Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford (LOWER · SAFE-LED · CEILING/PEAK), 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 · SAFE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Gainesville, GA
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
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 · SAFE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Redding, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 13/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 12/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · SAFE-LED · CEILING/PEAK - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford's bottom-third Life Score
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford scores 42.5/100 overall, but Safety (98.7) and Schools (8.5) sit 90.2 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Safety is the strongest of Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford'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
- 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
- Norwich is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Norwich
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.