Metro Life Score
Mobile, AL
Top-quartile composite Life Score — grade A-, 86th percentile of the national corpus.
- 59.8
- Life Score / 100
- A-
- Grade (curved)
- #54
- of 387 metros
- 86%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Mobile is top-quartile composite Life Score — #54 of 387 (59.8/100, grade A-, 86th percentile). Carried by childcare at 91/100; held back most by environment at 2/100.
- 86th
- composite percentile
- #54
- of 387 peers
- 86th
- cost dimension percentile
- 30th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · UPPER · BALANCED · signature composite
Mobile: top-third composite Life Score
Mobile clears the top third of US metros on composite Life Score (#54 of 387, 59.8/100, grade A-, 86th percentile). Stamps UPPER · BALANCED; cost FLOOR (86th) · wages LOW (30th). Childcare at 91/100 carries the lead; Environment (2/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Mobile, AL ranks #54 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #55 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 88.1 (rent-RPP 60.1). BLS median salary $61,106, 162,680 jobs (Registered Nurses, Retail Salespersons, Stockers and Order Fillers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,083/mo (studio $854).
FBI UCR (AL): 376 violent, 1622 property/100K. NCES: 17.2:1 ratio, 1.2% charter. DOL infant childcare $6,896/yr. EPA: 16 Superfund sites (AL).
Where Mobile sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
60 Top 14% higher than 86% 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 59.8 is built
Mobile's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Mobile scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are AL state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Mobile With...
Ranking Context
Mobile outranks 86% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #51 | Greenville, NC | 59.9 | A- |
| #52 | Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | 59.9 | A- |
| #53 | Beckley, WV | 60.1 | A- |
| #54 | Mobile, AL | 59.8 | A- |
| #55 | Rochester, MN | 59.8 | A- |
| #56 | Winston-Salem, NC | 59.6 | A- |
| #57 | Peoria, IL | 59.5 | A- |
Quality vs. Affordability
Mobile, AL's quality rank (top 14% highest-quality) and affordability rank (top 14% most affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
AL Metro Scores
Read with Mobile
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Mobile (UPPER · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Rochester, MN
ABS(composite) peer at 59.8 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A- vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW.
Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA
ABS(composite) peer at 59.9 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A- vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW.
Greenville, NC
ABS(composite) peer at 59.9 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A- vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW.
Winston-Salem, NC
ABS(composite) peer at 59.6 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A- vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW.
Muncie, IN (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 86/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Cleveland, TN (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 86/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Mobile, AL relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for UPPER · BALANCED · FLOOR/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Mobile's top-third Life Score
Mobile scores 59.8/100 overall, but Childcare (90.6) and Environment (2.3) sit 88.3 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Childcare is the strongest of Mobile'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
- Environment is the weakest (weighted 10% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Decatur is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Decatur
A high composite is a weighted blend; it does not mean every dimension is strong.