Metro Life Score
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade F, 0th percentile of the national corpus.
- 30.0
- Life Score / 100
- F
- Grade (curved)
- #386
- of 387 metros
- 0%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
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The verdict
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #386 of 387 (30.0/100, grade F, 0th percentile). Carried by childcare at 70/100; held back most by environment at 8/100.
- 0th
- composite percentile
- #386
- of 387 peers
- 29th
- cost dimension percentile
- 42nd
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · BOTTOM · BALANCED · signature composite
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal: bottom-third composite — where the drag concentrates
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal sits in the bottom third of the metro corpus on composite (#386 of 387, 30.0/100, 0th percentile). Stamps BOTTOM · BALANCED; Environment at 8/100 is the main drag; Childcare (70/100) keeps the floor. Cost/wage marks DEAR/MID. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC ranks #386 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #274 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 98.0 (rent-RPP 101.2). BLS median salary $63,019, 77,390 jobs (Retail Salespersons, Waiters and Waitresses, Fast Food and Counter Workers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,816/mo (studio $1,582).
FBI UCR (SC): 439 violent, 1988 property/100K. NCES: 14.3:1 ratio, 7.2% charter. DOL infant childcare $7,732/yr. EPA: 34 Superfund sites (SC).
Where Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
30 0th percentile higher than 0% 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
Dimension detail
How Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are SC state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal With...
Ranking Context
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal outranks 0% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #383 | Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC | 32.8 | F |
| #384 | Charleston-North Charleston, SC | 33.0 | F |
| #385 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 33.0 | F |
| #386 | Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC | 30.0 | F |
| #387 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 26.2 | F |
SC Metro Scores
Read with Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal (BOTTOM · BALANCED · DEAR/MID), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC
ABS(composite) peer at 32.8 (Δ 2.8 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade F vs this page's BOTTOM · BALANCED · DEAR/MID.
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
ABS(composite) peer at 33.0 (Δ 3.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade F vs this page's BOTTOM · BALANCED · DEAR/MID.
Charleston-North Charleston, SC
ABS(composite) peer at 33.0 (Δ 3.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade F vs this page's BOTTOM · BALANCED · DEAR/MID.
Kingston, NY
ABS(composite) peer at 33.3 (Δ 3.3 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade F vs this page's BOTTOM · BALANCED · DEAR/MID.
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 29/100 (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 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for BOTTOM · BALANCED · DEAR/MID - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.