Metro Life Score
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX
Top-quartile composite Life Score — grade B+, 80th percentile of the national corpus.
- 58.0
- Life Score / 100
- B+
- Grade (curved)
- #77
- of 387 metros
- 80%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
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The verdict
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is top-quartile composite Life Score — #77 of 387 (58.0/100, grade B+, 80th percentile). Carried by environment at 86/100; held back most by cost of living at 26/100.
- 80th
- composite percentile
- #77
- of 387 peers
- 26th
- cost dimension percentile
- 73rd
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · UPPER · RENT-SQUEEZE · signature composite
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands: top-third composite Life Score
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands clears the top third of US metros on composite Life Score (#77 of 387, 58.0/100, grade B+, 80th percentile). Stamps UPPER · RENT-SQUEEZE; cost DEAR (26th) · wages HIGH (73rd). Environment at 86/100 carries the lead; Cost of Living (26/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX ranks #77 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #287 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 98.6 (rent-RPP 104.5). BLS median salary $69,330, 3,246,270 jobs (Fast Food and Counter Workers, General and Operations Managers, Retail Salespersons). HUD 2BR FMR $1,095/mo (studio $885).
FBI UCR (TX): 395 violent, 2058 property/100K. NCES: 14.7:1 ratio, 11.4% charter. DOL infant childcare $7,566/yr. EPA: 70 Superfund sites (TX).
Where Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
58 Top 20% higher than 80% 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 Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are TX state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands With...
Ranking Context
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands outranks 80% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #74 | Jackson, MS | 58.1 | B+ |
| #75 | Gadsden, AL | 58.1 | B+ |
| #76 | Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC | 58.1 | B+ |
| #77 | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | 58.0 | B+ |
| #78 | Enid, OK * | 58.0 | B+ |
| #79 | Anniston-Oxford, AL | 57.7 | B+ |
| #80 | Bismarck, ND | 57.6 | B+ |
TX Metro Scores
Read with Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands (UPPER · RENT-SQUEEZE · DEAR/HIGH), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Enid, OK *
ABS(composite) peer at 58.0 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B+ vs this page's UPPER · RENT-SQUEEZE · DEAR/HIGH.
Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC
ABS(composite) peer at 58.1 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B+ vs this page's UPPER · RENT-SQUEEZE · DEAR/HIGH.
Gadsden, AL
ABS(composite) peer at 58.1 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B+ vs this page's UPPER · RENT-SQUEEZE · DEAR/HIGH.
Jackson, MS
ABS(composite) peer at 58.1 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B+ vs this page's UPPER · RENT-SQUEEZE · DEAR/HIGH.
Walla Walla, WA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 26/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 26/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for UPPER · RENT-SQUEEZE · DEAR/HIGH - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.