Metro Life Score
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
Below-median composite Life Score — grade C+, 33rd percentile of the national corpus.
- 45.8
- Life Score / 100
- C+
- Grade (curved)
- #259
- of 387 metros
- 33%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
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The verdict
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach is below-median composite Life Score — #259 of 387 (45.8/100, grade C+, 33rd percentile). Carried by safety at 94/100; held back most by cost of living at 0/100.
- 33rd
- composite percentile
- #259
- of 387 peers
- 0th
- cost dimension percentile
- 70th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · signature cost
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach: cost pressure is the outlier
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach is a LOWER-band metro where cost sits only at the 0th percentile (CEILING) — the clearest outlier vs wages at the 70th and composite #259. Cost of Living (0/100) is the main drag; Safety (94/100) keeps the floor. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL ranks #259 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #386 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 114.2 (rent-RPP 155.6). BLS median salary $68,325, 2,720,630 jobs (Retail Salespersons, General and Operations Managers, Customer Service Representatives). HUD 2BR FMR $2,333/mo (studio $1,737).
FBI UCR (FL): 210 violent, 1030 property/100K. NCES: 17.8:1 ratio, 18.0% charter. DOL infant childcare $10,505/yr. EPA: 81 Superfund sites (FL).
Where Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
46 33rd percentile higher than 33% 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 45.8 is built
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are FL state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach With...
Ranking Context
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach outranks 33% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #256 | Wilmington, NC | 45.9 | C+ |
| #257 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 45.9 | C+ |
| #258 | Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA | 45.9 | C+ |
| #259 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | 45.8 | C+ |
| #260 | Bakersfield-Delano, CA | 45.7 | C+ |
| #261 | Morristown, TN | 45.7 | C+ |
| #262 | Spartanburg, SC | 45.7 | C+ |
Quality vs. Affordability
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL is bottom 33% lowest-quality nationally but only bottom 1% least affordable among its composite-quality peers -- its Life Score is earned mostly outside the cost dimension, not through being a budget option.
FL Metro Scores
Read with Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach (LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/HIGH), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Bakersfield-Delano, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 45.7 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/HIGH.
Morristown, TN
ABS(composite) peer at 45.7 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/HIGH.
Spartanburg, SC
ABS(composite) peer at 45.7 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/HIGH.
Grand Junction, CO
ABS(composite) peer at 45.9 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/HIGH.
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 0/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 1/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/HIGH - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach's bottom-third Life Score
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach scores 45.8/100 overall, but Safety (94.3) and Cost of Living (0.3) sit 94.0 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Safety is the strongest of Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach'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
- Cost of Living is the weakest (weighted 20% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Wildwood is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Wildwood
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.