Metro Life Score
Ithaca, NY
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade D, 5th percentile of the national corpus.
- 37.4
- Life Score / 100
- D
- Grade (curved)
- #369
- of 387 metros
- 5%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Ithaca is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #369 of 387 (37.4/100, grade D, 5th percentile). Carried by wages at 90/100; held back most by schools at 5/100.
- 5th
- composite percentile
- #369
- of 387 peers
- 11th
- cost dimension percentile
- 90th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · signature composite
Ithaca: bottom-third composite — where the drag concentrates
Ithaca sits in the bottom third of the metro corpus on composite (#369 of 387, 37.4/100, 4th percentile). Stamps BOTTOM · WAGE-LED; Schools at 5/100 is the main drag; Wages (90/100) keeps the floor. Cost/wage marks CEILING/PEAK. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Ithaca, NY ranks #369 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #345 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 103.3 (rent-RPP 128.4). BLS median salary $75,348, 39,380 jobs (Retail Salespersons, Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary, Registered Nurses). HUD 2BR FMR $1,753/mo (studio $1,263).
FBI UCR (NY): 380 violent, 1661 property/100K. NCES: 11.4:1 ratio, 7.1% charter. DOL infant childcare $13,869/yr. EPA: 122 Superfund sites (NY).
Where Ithaca sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
37 5th percentile higher than 5% 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 37.4 is built
Ithaca's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Ithaca scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are NY state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Ithaca With...
Ranking Context
Ithaca outranks 5% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #366 | Dover, DE | 37.8 | D |
| #367 | Salinas, CA | 38.2 | D |
| #368 | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | 38.2 | D |
| #369 | Ithaca, NY | 37.4 | D |
| #370 | Santa Fe, NM | 37.4 | D |
| #371 | Great Falls, MT | 37.3 | D |
| #372 | Worcester, MA | 36.4 | D |
Quality vs. Affordability
Ithaca, NY's quality rank (bottom 5% lowest-quality) and affordability rank (bottom 11% least affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
NY Metro Scores
Read with Ithaca
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Ithaca (BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Santa Fe, NM
ABS(composite) peer at 37.4 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Great Falls, MT
ABS(composite) peer at 37.3 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Dover, DE
ABS(composite) peer at 37.8 (Δ 0.4 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN
ABS(composite) peer at 38.2 (Δ 0.8 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 11/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Bellingham, WA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 11/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Ithaca, NY relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Ithaca's bottom-third Life Score
Ithaca scores 37.4/100 overall, but Wages (90.2) and Schools (4.9) sit 85.2 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Wages is the strongest of Ithaca'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
- 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
- Binghamton is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Binghamton
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.