Metro Life Score
Manchester-Nashua, NH
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade C-, 20th percentile of the national corpus.
- 42.5
- Life Score / 100
- C-
- Grade (curved)
- #310
- of 387 metros
- 20%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Manchester-Nashua is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #310 of 387 (42.5/100, grade C-, 20th percentile). Carried by safety at 99/100; held back most by schools at 1/100.
- 20th
- composite percentile
- #310
- of 387 peers
- 6th
- cost dimension percentile
- 84th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · SAFE-LED · signature cost
Manchester-Nashua: cost pressure is the outlier
Manchester-Nashua is a LOWER-band metro where cost sits only at the 6th percentile (CEILING) — the clearest outlier vs wages at the 84th and composite #310. Schools (1/100) is the main drag; Safety (99/100) keeps the floor. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Manchester-Nashua, NH ranks #310 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #363 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 105.7 (rent-RPP 134.2). BLS median salary $72,754, 193,340 jobs (Retail Salespersons, Registered Nurses, General and Operations Managers). HUD 2BR FMR $2,127/mo (studio $1,467).
FBI UCR (NH): 112 violent, 928 property/100K. NCES: 11.0:1 ratio, 7.8% charter. DOL infant childcare $14,934/yr. EPA: 22 Superfund sites (NH).
Where Manchester-Nashua sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
43 20th percentile higher than 20% 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 42.5 is built
Manchester-Nashua's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Manchester-Nashua scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are NH state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Manchester-Nashua With...
Ranking Context
Manchester-Nashua outranks 20% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #307 | Glens Falls, NY | 42.6 | C |
| #308 | Billings, MT | 42.7 | C |
| #309 | Waterbury-Shelton, CT | 43.0 | C |
| #310 | Manchester-Nashua, NH | 42.5 | C- |
| #311 | Colorado Springs, CO | 42.5 | C |
| #312 | Gainesville, GA | 42.5 | C |
| #313 | Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT | 42.5 | C |
Quality vs. Affordability
Manchester-Nashua, NH's quality rank (bottom 20% lowest-quality) and affordability rank (bottom 6% least affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
Read with Manchester-Nashua
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Manchester-Nashua (LOWER · SAFE-LED · CEILING/HIGH), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Colorado Springs, CO
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · CEILING/HIGH.
Gainesville, GA
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · CEILING/HIGH.
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · CEILING/HIGH.
Redding, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · CEILING/HIGH.
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 6/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 6/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Manchester-Nashua, NH relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · SAFE-LED · CEILING/HIGH - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Manchester-Nashua's bottom-third Life Score
Manchester-Nashua scores 42.5/100 overall, but Safety (99.2) and Schools (0.8) sit 98.4 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Safety is the strongest of Manchester-Nashua'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
- Paducah is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Paducah
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.