Metro Life Score
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
Below-median composite Life Score — grade C+, 34th percentile of the national corpus.
- 45.9
- Life Score / 100
- C+
- Grade (curved)
- #257
- of 387 metros
- 34%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington is below-median composite Life Score — #257 of 387 (45.9/100, grade C+, 34th percentile). Carried by wages at 97/100; held back most by cost of living at 8/100.
- 34th
- composite percentile
- #257
- of 387 peers
- 8th
- cost dimension percentile
- 96th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · signature wages
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington: pay power is the signature
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington stamps LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE with wages at the 96th percentile of the metro corpus (PEAK) — ahead of its cost mark (CEILING, 8th) and composite #257. Wages (97/100) amplifies the lead; Cost of Living (8/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI ranks #257 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #357 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 104.8 (rent-RPP 111.8). BLS median salary $80,598, 1,928,660 jobs (Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Retail Salespersons, General and Operations Managers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,709/mo (studio $1,242).
FBI UCR (MN): 259 violent, 1625 property/100K. NCES: 13.9:1 ratio, 11.9% charter. DOL infant childcare $11,722/yr. EPA: 49 Superfund sites (MN).
Where Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
46 34th percentile higher than 34% 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 45.9 is built
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are MN state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington With...
Ranking Context
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington outranks 34% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #254 | Monroe, MI | 46.0 | C+ |
| #255 | Lewiston-Auburn, ME | 46.0 | C+ |
| #256 | Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL | 46.0 | C+ |
| #257 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 45.9 | C+ |
| #258 | Grand Junction, CO | 45.9 | C+ |
| #259 | Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA | 45.9 | C+ |
| #260 | Wilmington, NC | 45.9 | C+ |
Quality vs. Affordability
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI is bottom 34% lowest-quality nationally but only bottom 8% least affordable among its composite-quality peers -- its Life Score is earned mostly outside the cost dimension, not through being a budget option.
MN Metro Scores
Read with Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington (LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Grand Junction, CO
ABS(composite) peer at 45.9 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK.
Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA
ABS(composite) peer at 45.9 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK.
Wilmington, NC
ABS(composite) peer at 45.9 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK.
Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL
ABS(composite) peer at 46.0 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK.
New Haven, CT (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 8/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Stockton-Lodi, CA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 8/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington's bottom-third Life Score
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington scores 45.9/100 overall, but Wages (96.6) and Cost of Living (7.8) sit 88.9 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Wages is the strongest of Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington'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
- 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
- St. Cloud is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with St. Cloud
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.