Metro Life Score
Jacksonville, NC
Below-median composite Life Score — grade C+, 44th percentile of the national corpus.
- 48.1
- Life Score / 100
- C+
- Grade (curved)
- #218
- of 387 metros
- 44%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Jacksonville is below-median composite Life Score — #218 of 387 (48.1/100, grade C+, 44th percentile). Carried by rent at 69/100; held back most by wages at 11/100.
- 44th
- composite percentile
- #218
- of 387 peers
- 62nd
- cost dimension percentile
- 11th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · MID · BALANCED · signature wages
Jacksonville: wage lag defines the peer set
Jacksonville is a MID-band metro where wages sit at only the 11th percentile (LOW) while cost is MID (62nd) and composite #218. Wages at 11/100 is the clearest drag; Rent (69/100) is the offset. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Jacksonville, NC ranks #218 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #147 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 92.1 (rent-RPP 72.1). BLS median salary $57,430, 46,520 jobs (Retail Salespersons, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Cooks, Fast Food). HUD 2BR FMR $1,173/mo (studio $929).
FBI UCR (NC): 365 violent, 1930 property/100K. NCES: 16.1:1 ratio, 7.6% charter. DOL infant childcare $9,487/yr. EPA: 42 Superfund sites (NC).
Where Jacksonville sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
48 44th percentile higher than 44% 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 48.1 is built
Jacksonville's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Jacksonville scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are NC state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Jacksonville With...
Ranking Context
Jacksonville outranks 44% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #215 | Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL | 48.2 | C+ |
| #216 | Durham-Chapel Hill, NC | 48.2 | B- |
| #217 | Charlottesville, VA | 48.3 | B- |
| #218 | Jacksonville, NC | 48.1 | C+ |
| #219 | Niles, MI | 48.1 | C+ |
| #220 | Portland-South Portland, ME | 48.1 | C+ |
| #221 | Chambersburg, PA | 48.0 | C+ |
Quality vs. Affordability
Jacksonville, NC is bottom 44% lowest-quality nationally and also top 38% most affordable -- a rarer combination among its composite-quality peers, where overall rank and affordability rank usually diverge more than this.
NC Metro Scores
Read with Jacksonville
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Jacksonville (MID · BALANCED · MID/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Niles, MI
ABS(composite) peer at 48.1 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · BALANCED · MID/LOW.
Portland-South Portland, ME
ABS(composite) peer at 48.1 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · BALANCED · MID/LOW.
Chambersburg, PA
ABS(composite) peer at 48.0 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · BALANCED · MID/LOW.
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
ABS(composite) peer at 48.2 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B- vs this page's MID · BALANCED · MID/LOW.
Twin Falls, ID * (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 62/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp MID vs this metro's MID.
Winston-Salem, NC (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 62/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp MID vs this metro's MID.
Jacksonville, NC relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for MID · BALANCED · MID/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Jacksonville's middle-third Life Score
Jacksonville scores 48.1/100 overall, but Rent (69.4) and Wages (11.4) sit 58.0 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Rent is the strongest of Jacksonville'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
- Wages is the weakest (weighted 20% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Greenville is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Greenville
A middle-third composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can sit well above or below it.