Metro Life Score
Johnstown, PA
Top-quartile composite Life Score — grade A-, 84th percentile of the national corpus.
- 58.9
- Life Score / 100
- A-
- Grade (curved)
- #61
- of 387 metros
- 84%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
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The verdict
Johnstown is top-quartile composite Life Score — #61 of 387 (58.9/100, grade A-, 84th percentile). Carried by cost of living at 95/100; held back most by wages at 9/100.
- 84th
- composite percentile
- #61
- of 387 peers
- 95th
- cost dimension percentile
- 9th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · UPPER · COST-LED · signature cost
Johnstown: affordability leads the Life Score story
Johnstown is a UPPER-band metro whose cost dimension sits at the 95th percentile of 387 US metros (FLOOR) while composite is #61 (58.9/100, grade A-). Cost of Living at 95/100 carries the upside; Wages at 9/100 is the residual drag. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Johnstown, PA ranks #61 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #20 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 85.9 (rent-RPP 42.3). BLS median salary $57,143, 42,320 jobs (Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons). HUD 2BR FMR $1,035/mo (studio $840).
FBI UCR (PA): 250 violent, 1457 property/100K. NCES: 13.0:1 ratio, 6.0% charter. EPA: 127 Superfund sites (PA).
Where Johnstown sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
59 Top 16% higher than 84% 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 58.9 is built
Johnstown's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Johnstown scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are PA state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Johnstown With...
Ranking Context
Johnstown outranks 84% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #58 | Albany, GA | 59.1 | A- |
| #59 | Boise City, ID | 59.2 | A- |
| #60 | Peoria, IL | 59.5 | A- |
| #61 | Johnstown, PA | 58.9 | A- |
| #62 | Brownsville-Harlingen, TX | 58.9 | A- |
| #63 | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX | 58.9 | A- |
| #64 | Cleveland, OH | 58.8 | A- |
Quality vs. Affordability
Johnstown, PA's quality rank (top 16% highest-quality) and affordability rank (top 5% most affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
PA Metro Scores
Read with Johnstown
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Johnstown (UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Brownsville-Harlingen, TX
ABS(composite) peer at 58.9 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A- vs this page's UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX
ABS(composite) peer at 58.9 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A- vs this page's UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Cleveland, OH
ABS(composite) peer at 58.8 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A- vs this page's UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Lawton, OK
ABS(composite) peer at 58.8 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A- vs this page's UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Anniston-Oxford, AL (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 95/100 (Δ 1); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Fort Smith, AR-OK (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 96/100 (Δ 1); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Johnstown, PA relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Johnstown's top-third Life Score
Johnstown scores 58.9/100 overall, but Cost of Living (95.1) and Wages (9.3) sit 85.8 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Cost of Living is the strongest of Johnstown'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
- 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
- Altoona is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Altoona
A high composite is a weighted blend; it does not mean every dimension is strong.