Metro Life Score
Kingston, NY
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade F, 1st percentile of the national corpus.
- 33.3
- Life Score / 100
- F
- Grade (curved)
- #382
- of 387 metros
- 1%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Kingston is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #382 of 387 (33.3/100, grade F, 1st percentile). Carried by wages at 63/100; held back most by schools at 5/100.
- 1st
- composite percentile
- #382
- of 387 peers
- 19th
- cost dimension percentile
- 63rd
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · signature composite
Kingston: bottom-third composite — where the drag concentrates
Kingston sits in the bottom third of the metro corpus on composite (#382 of 387, 33.3/100, 1st percentile). Stamps BOTTOM · WAGE-LED; Schools at 5/100 is the main drag; Wages (63/100) keeps the floor. Cost/wage marks DEAR/MID. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Kingston, NY ranks #382 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #313 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 100.7 (rent-RPP 110.2). BLS median salary $66,733, 52,520 jobs (Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Retail Salespersons, Cashiers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,818/mo (studio $1,303).
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 Kingston sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
33 1st percentile higher than 1% 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 33.3 is built
Kingston's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Kingston 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 Kingston With...
Ranking Context
Kingston outranks 1% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #379 | Bozeman, MT | 33.5 | F |
| #380 | Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY | 34.5 | F |
| #381 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | 35.2 | F |
| #382 | Kingston, NY | 33.3 | F |
| #383 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 33.0 | F |
| #384 | Charleston-North Charleston, SC | 33.0 | F |
| #385 | Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC | 32.8 | F |
Quality vs. Affordability
Kingston, NY is bottom 2% lowest-quality nationally and also bottom 19% least affordable -- a rarer combination among its composite-quality peers, where overall rank and affordability rank usually diverge more than this.
NY Metro Scores
Read with Kingston
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Kingston (BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · DEAR/MID), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Bozeman, MT
ABS(composite) peer at 33.5 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade F vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · DEAR/MID.
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
ABS(composite) peer at 33.0 (Δ 0.3 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade F vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · DEAR/MID.
Charleston-North Charleston, SC
ABS(composite) peer at 33.0 (Δ 0.3 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade F vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · DEAR/MID.
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC
ABS(composite) peer at 32.8 (Δ 0.5 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade F vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · DEAR/MID.
Lexington Park, MD (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 19/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Colorado Springs, CO (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 19/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Kingston, NY relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · DEAR/MID - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Kingston's bottom-third Life Score
Kingston scores 33.3/100 overall, but Wages (63.5) and Schools (5.2) sit 58.3 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Wages is the strongest of Kingston'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.