Metro Life Score
Lancaster, PA
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade C-, 18th percentile of the national corpus.
- 42.1
- Life Score / 100
- C-
- Grade (curved)
- #317
- of 387 metros
- 18%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Lancaster is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #317 of 387 (42.1/100, grade C-, 18th percentile). Carried by safety at 76/100; held back most by schools at 20/100.
- 18th
- composite percentile
- #317
- of 387 peers
- 28th
- cost dimension percentile
- 46th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · SAFE-LED · signature composite
Lancaster: bottom-third composite — where the drag concentrates
Lancaster sits in the bottom third of the metro corpus on composite (#317 of 387, 42.1/100, 18th percentile). Stamps LOWER · SAFE-LED; Schools at 20/100 is the main drag; Safety (76/100) keeps the floor. Cost/wage marks DEAR/MID. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Lancaster, PA ranks #317 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #280 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 98.3 (rent-RPP 93.8). BLS median salary $63,734, 241,090 jobs (Retail Salespersons, General and Operations Managers, Home Health and Personal Care Aides). HUD 2BR FMR $1,526/mo (studio $1,102).
FBI UCR (PA): 250 violent, 1457 property/100K. NCES: 13.0:1 ratio, 6.0% charter. EPA: 127 Superfund sites (PA).
Where Lancaster sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
42 18th percentile higher than 18% 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 42.1 is built
Lancaster's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Lancaster 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 Lancaster With...
Ranking Context
Lancaster outranks 18% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #314 | Rochester, NY | 42.2 | C- |
| #315 | Fort Collins-Loveland, CO | 42.2 | C- |
| #316 | Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ | 42.2 | C- |
| #317 | Lancaster, PA | 42.1 | C- |
| #318 | Hinesville, GA | 42.1 | C- |
| #319 | Trenton-Princeton, NJ | 42.1 | C- |
| #320 | Hanford-Corcoran, CA | 42.0 | C- |
Quality vs. Affordability
Lancaster, PA's quality rank (bottom 18% lowest-quality) and affordability rank (bottom 28% least affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
PA Metro Scores
Read with Lancaster
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Lancaster (LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Hinesville, GA
ABS(composite) peer at 42.1 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID.
Trenton-Princeton, NJ
ABS(composite) peer at 42.1 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID.
Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ
ABS(composite) peer at 42.2 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID.
Fort Collins-Loveland, CO
ABS(composite) peer at 42.2 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID.
Merced, CA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 27/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 28/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Lancaster, PA relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Lancaster's bottom-third Life Score
Lancaster scores 42.1/100 overall, but Safety (75.6) and Schools (19.7) sit 56.0 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Safety is the strongest of Lancaster'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
- 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
- Johnstown is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Johnstown
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.