Metro Life Score
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX
Top-quartile composite Life Score — grade A-, 84th percentile of the national corpus.
- 58.9
- Life Score / 100
- A-
- Grade (curved)
- #62
- of 387 metros
- 84%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission is top-quartile composite Life Score — #62 of 387 (58.9/100, grade A-, 84th percentile). Carried by cost of living at 95/100; held back most by wages at 5/100.
- 84th
- composite percentile
- #62
- of 387 peers
- 95th
- cost dimension percentile
- 5th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · UPPER · COST-LED · signature cost
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission: affordability leads the Life Score story
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission is a UPPER-band metro whose cost dimension sits at the 95th percentile of 387 US metros (FLOOR) while composite is #62 (58.9/100, grade A-). Cost of Living at 95/100 carries the upside; Wages at 5/100 is the residual drag. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX ranks #62 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #19 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 85.9 (rent-RPP 55.9). BLS median salary $55,404, 289,460 jobs (Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons). HUD 2BR FMR $1,060/mo (studio $842).
FBI UCR (TX): 395 violent, 2058 property/100K. NCES: 14.4:1 ratio, 11.1% charter. DOL infant childcare $7,566/yr. EPA: 70 Superfund sites (TX).
Where McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 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
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How McAllen-Edinburg-Mission scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are TX state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare McAllen-Edinburg-Mission With...
Ranking Context
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission outranks 84% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #59 | Albany, GA | 59.1 | A- |
| #60 | Boise City, ID | 59.2 | A- |
| #61 | Peoria, IL | 59.5 | A- |
| #62 | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX | 58.9 | A- |
| #63 | Brownsville-Harlingen, TX | 58.9 | A- |
| #64 | Johnstown, PA | 58.9 | A- |
| #65 | Cleveland, OH | 58.8 | A- |
Quality vs. Affordability
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX'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.
TX Metro Scores
Read with McAllen-Edinburg-Mission
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for McAllen-Edinburg-Mission (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.
Johnstown, PA
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.
Fort Smith, AR-OK (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 96/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Jonesboro, AR (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 96/100 (Δ 1); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using McAllen-Edinburg-Mission's top-third Life Score
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission scores 58.9/100 overall, but Cost of Living (95.3) and Wages (5.2) sit 90.2 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Cost of Living is the strongest of McAllen-Edinburg-Mission'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
- Beaumont is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Beaumont
A high composite is a weighted blend; it does not mean every dimension is strong.