Metro Life Score
Missoula, MT
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade D, 9th percentile of the national corpus.
- 39.7
- Life Score / 100
- D
- Grade (curved)
- #351
- of 387 metros
- 9%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Missoula is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #351 of 387 (39.7/100, grade D, 9th percentile). Carried by environment at 95/100; held back most by schools at 6/100.
- 9th
- composite percentile
- #351
- of 387 peers
- 36th
- cost dimension percentile
- 43rd
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED · signature composite
Missoula: bottom-third composite — where the drag concentrates
Missoula sits in the bottom third of the metro corpus on composite (#351 of 387, 39.7/100, 9th percentile). Stamps BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED; Schools at 6/100 is the main drag; Environment (95/100) keeps the floor. Cost/wage marks DEAR/MID. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Missoula, MT ranks #351 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #248 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 96.4 (rent-RPP 94.9). BLS median salary $63,132, 60,010 jobs (Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons, Home Health and Personal Care Aides). HUD 2BR FMR $1,361/mo (studio $941).
FBI UCR (MT): 426 violent, 1646 property/100K. NCES: 11.3:1 ratio, 0.0% charter. DOL infant childcare $11,466/yr. EPA: 19 Superfund sites (MT).
Where Missoula sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
40 9th percentile higher than 9% 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 39.7 is built
Missoula's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Missoula scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are MT state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Missoula With...
Ranking Context
Missoula outranks 9% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #348 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | 39.8 | D |
| #349 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 39.8 | D |
| #350 | Sumter, SC | 39.9 | C- |
| #351 | Missoula, MT | 39.7 | D |
| #352 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 39.7 | D |
| #353 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | 39.6 | D |
| #354 | Fairbanks-College, AK | 39.4 | D |
Quality vs. Affordability
Missoula, MT is bottom 10% lowest-quality nationally and also bottom 36% least affordable -- a rarer combination among its composite-quality peers, where overall rank and affordability rank usually diverge more than this.
MT Metro Scores
Read with Missoula
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Missoula (BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/MID), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 39.7 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/MID.
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 39.8 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/MID.
Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 39.8 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/MID.
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 39.6 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/MID.
Winchester, VA-WV (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 36/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Wilmington, NC (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 36/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Missoula, MT relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/MID - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Missoula's bottom-third Life Score
Missoula scores 39.7/100 overall, but Environment (94.6) and Schools (6.0) sit 88.6 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Environment is the strongest of Missoula's seven dimensions (weighted 10% 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
- Billings is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Billings
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.