PlainCompare

Metro Life Score

Jefferson City, MO

46.5
Life Score / 100
C+
Grade (curved)
#249
of 387 metros
36%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census

The verdict

Jefferson City ranks #249 of 387 US metros, ahead of 36% - carried by its rent (89/100) and held back most by schools (12/100).

89
strongest: Rent
87
then: Cost of Living
12
weakest: Schools
7
weighted dimensions

Where Jefferson City sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

47 36th percentile higher than 36% of 387 US metros

25–30: 1 US metros (0%). Below this entry. 30–35: 16 US metros (4%). Below this entry. 35–40: 46 US metros (12%). Below this entry. 40–45: 53 US metros (14%). Below this entry. 45–50: 81 US metros (21%). This entry sits in this band. 50–55: 67 US metros (17%). Above this entry. 55–60: 68 US metros (18%). Above this entry. 60–65: 40 US metros (10%). Above this entry. 65–70: 12 US metros (3%). Above this entry. 70–75: 3 US metros (1%). Above this entry. This metro 25 75 every US metro, bucketed by value

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 · May 2026

How the score is built

Reading the Jefferson City Life Score

Jefferson City's composite score of 46.5 out of 100, a grade of C+, places the metro at rank #249 of 387, ahead of 36% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Rent (89/100) and Cost of Living (87/100), which pull the composite upward, while Schools (12/100) and Safety (15/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

BEA RPP 88.0 (rent-RPP 62.1). BLS median salary $59,255, 71,510 jobs (General and Operations Managers, Registered Nurses, Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive). HUD 2BR FMR $1,042/mo (studio $789).

FBI UCR (MO): 463 violent, 1972 property/100K. NCES: 12.8:1 ratio, 3.5% charter. EPA: 39 Superfund sites (MO). Ranks #246-#252 below.

Dimension detail

How Jefferson City scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 87/100 (20%)
Wages 16/100 (20%)
Rent 89/100 (15%)
Safety 15/100 (15%)
Schools 12/100 (10%)
Childcare -/100 (10%)
Environment 44/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

88.0
Cost Index (RPP)
$59,255
Avg Median Salary
$1,042
2BR Fair Market Rent
463
Violent Crime/100K (MO)
12.8:1
Student-Teacher Ratio
39
Superfund Sites (MO)
71,510
Total Employment

Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level where metro-specific data is unavailable.

Compare Jefferson City With...

Jefferson City vs St. Joseph Compare → Jefferson City vs St. Louis Compare → Jefferson City vs Joplin Compare → Jefferson City vs Wildwood Compare → Jefferson City vs Waterloo Compare → Jefferson City vs Paducah Compare →

Ranking Context

Jefferson City outranks 36% of U.S. metros.

Rank Metro Score Grade
#246 Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC 46.6 C+
#247 El Paso, TX 46.6 C+
#248 Asheville, NC 46.6 C+
#249 Jefferson City, MO 46.5 C+
#250 Gainesville, FL 46.5 C+
#251 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI 46.4 C+
#252 Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL 46.4 C+

MO Metro Scores

St. Joseph, MO-KS B+ 55.5 St. Louis, MO-IL B 54.7 Joplin, MO-KS B- 51.7 Springfield, MO B- 49.7 Kansas City, MO-KS C 45.5 Cape Girardeau, MO-IL C 44.5

Using Jefferson City's Life Score

Jefferson City is a regional baseline, not a neighborhood reading, use it to shortlist, then dig into the dimensions that matter to you.

  • Its strongest dimension is rent (89/100) and its weakest is schools (12/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
  • Put Jefferson City head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
  • See where Jefferson City lands on the national rankings for cost, safety, pay and more. Browse rankings

Scores summarize federal data at the metro level; crime, schools and cost vary widely within a single metro.

Explore more

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Jefferson City's biggest strengths? ▼
Jefferson City's strongest dimensions are Rent (89/100), Cost of Living (87/100), Environment (44/100). Rent is top-tier nationally.
What are Jefferson City's weakest areas? ▼
Jefferson City's lowest-scoring dimensions are Schools (12/100), Safety (15/100), Wages (16/100). Schools weighs heavily on the composite.
How expensive is Jefferson City compared to the national average? ▼
Jefferson City's Regional Price Parity is 88.0 (12.0% less than national); rent RPP 62.1.
What is the average salary in Jefferson City? ▼
Jefferson City median salary: $59,255, 71,510 jobs. Top: General and Operations Managers, Registered Nurses, Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive.
How is the life score calculated? ▼
Jefferson City's 46.5/100 blends 7 federal-data dimensions - see our methodology page for the weighting.

Research Guides

Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, and EPA. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.

Related

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, and EPA. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

All federal data sources used on this page
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - multi-dimension demographic + housing + income aggregates for cross-area comparison. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • BEA Regional Economic Accounts - GDP, personal income, employment by state and metro. bea.gov/data/regional
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) - wage estimates for comparable-area indexing. bls.gov/oes
  • FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) - crime statistics for safety-score component. fbi.gov/ucr
  • NCES Common Core of Data - public-school quality indicators by area. nces.ed.gov/ccd
  • EPA AirNow + Air Quality System (AQS) - air-quality measurements by area. epa.gov/outdoor-air-quality-data
  • HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR) - county and metro housing-cost indicators. huduser.gov/datasets/fmr

Every figure on PlainCompare is loaded directly from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OEWS, NCES, DOL, EPA, and the Census Bureau, no number is typed in by an editor. This metro's Life Score is computed directly from the 7 federal sources cited above. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026.