Metro Life Score
Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH
Top-1% composite Life Score — grade A+, 99th percentile of the national corpus.
- 66.0
- Life Score / 100
- A+
- Grade (curved)
- #4
- of 387 metros
- 99%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Huntington-Ashland is top-1% composite Life Score — #4 of 387 (66.0/100, grade A+, 99th percentile). Carried by rent at 96/100; held back most by schools at 14/100.
- 99th
- composite percentile
- #4
- of 387 peers
- 84th
- cost dimension percentile
- 41st
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · TOP · BALANCED · signature composite
Huntington-Ashland: top-third composite Life Score
Huntington-Ashland clears the top third of US metros on composite Life Score (#4 of 387, 66.0/100, grade A+, 99th percentile). Stamps TOP · BALANCED; cost CHEAP (84th) · wages MID (41st). Rent at 96/100 carries the lead; Schools (14/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH ranks #4 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #63 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 88.4 (rent-RPP 51.3). BLS median salary $62,704, 133,420 jobs (Registered Nurses, Retail Salespersons, Home Health and Personal Care Aides). HUD 2BR FMR $973/mo (studio $848).
FBI UCR (WV): 242 violent, 1089 property/100K. NCES: 13.3:1 ratio, 0.6% charter. DOL infant childcare $8,974/yr. EPA: 14 Superfund sites (WV).
Where Huntington-Ashland sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
66 Top 1% higher than 99% 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 66.0 is built
Huntington-Ashland's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Huntington-Ashland scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are WV state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Huntington-Ashland With...
Ranking Context
Huntington-Ashland outranks 99% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Wildwood-The Villages, FL | 67.0 | A+ |
| #2 | Pocatello, ID | 67.9 | A+ |
| #3 | Paducah, KY-IL | 72.8 | A+ |
| #4 | Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH | 66.0 | A+ |
| #5 | St. Cloud, MN | 65.9 | A+ |
| #6 | Ames, IA | 65.6 | A+ |
| #7 | Charleston, WV | 65.3 | A+ |
Quality vs. Affordability
Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH's quality rank (top 1% highest-quality) and affordability rank (top 16% most affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
WV Metro Scores
Read with Huntington-Ashland
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Huntington-Ashland (TOP · BALANCED · CHEAP/MID), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
St. Cloud, MN
ABS(composite) peer at 65.9 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A+ vs this page's TOP · BALANCED · CHEAP/MID.
Ames, IA
ABS(composite) peer at 65.6 (Δ 0.4 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A+ vs this page's TOP · BALANCED · CHEAP/MID.
Charleston, WV
ABS(composite) peer at 65.3 (Δ 0.7 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A+ vs this page's TOP · BALANCED · CHEAP/MID.
Wildwood-The Villages, FL
ABS(composite) peer at 67.0 (Δ 1.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A+ vs this page's TOP · BALANCED · CHEAP/MID.
Decatur, IL (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 84/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CHEAP vs this metro's CHEAP.
Goldsboro, NC (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 84/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CHEAP vs this metro's CHEAP.
Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for TOP · BALANCED · CHEAP/MID - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Huntington-Ashland's top-third Life Score
Huntington-Ashland scores 66.0/100 overall, but Rent (95.6) and Schools (14.0) sit 81.6 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Rent is the strongest of Huntington-Ashland'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
- Charleston is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Charleston
A high composite is a weighted blend; it does not mean every dimension is strong.