Metro Life Score
Monroe, LA
Top-5% composite Life Score — grade A+, 97th percentile of the national corpus.
- 64.6
- Life Score / 100
- A+
- Grade (curved)
- #11
- of 387 metros
- 97%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Monroe is top-5% composite Life Score — #11 of 387 (64.6/100, grade A+, 97th percentile). Carried by cost of living at 100/100; held back most by wages at 3/100.
- 97th
- composite percentile
- #11
- of 387 peers
- 100th
- cost dimension percentile
- 3rd
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · TOP · COST-LED · signature cost
Monroe: affordability leads the Life Score story
Monroe is a TOP-band metro whose cost dimension sits at the 100th percentile of 387 US metros (FLOOR) while composite is #11 (64.6/100, grade A+). Cost of Living at 100/100 carries the upside; Wages at 3/100 is the residual drag. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Monroe, LA ranks #11 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #1 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 83.6 (rent-RPP 42.8). BLS median salary $54,218, 79,300 jobs (Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand, Retail Salespersons). HUD 2BR FMR $834/mo (studio $631).
FBI UCR (LA): 410 violent, 1773 property/100K. NCES: 13.6:1 ratio, 11.4% charter. DOL infant childcare $7,396/yr. EPA: 29 Superfund sites (LA).
Where Monroe sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
65 Top 3% higher than 97% 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 64.6 is built
Monroe's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Monroe scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are LA state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Monroe With...
Ranking Context
Monroe outranks 97% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #8 | Sioux Falls, SD-MN | 64.7 | A+ |
| #9 | Elizabethtown, KY | 64.7 | A+ |
| #10 | Lexington-Fayette, KY | 64.9 | A+ |
| #11 | Monroe, LA | 64.6 | A+ |
| #12 | Owensboro, KY | 64.6 | A |
| #13 | Cedar Rapids, IA | 64.3 | A |
| #14 | Lafayette, LA | 64.1 | A |
Quality vs. Affordability
Monroe, LA's quality rank (top 3% highest-quality) and affordability rank (top 1% most affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
LA Metro Scores
Read with Monroe
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Monroe (TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Owensboro, KY
ABS(composite) peer at 64.6 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A vs this page's TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Elizabethtown, KY
ABS(composite) peer at 64.7 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A+ vs this page's TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Sioux Falls, SD-MN
ABS(composite) peer at 64.7 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A+ vs this page's TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Cedar Rapids, IA
ABS(composite) peer at 64.3 (Δ 0.3 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A vs this page's TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Eagle Pass, TX (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 100/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Dothan, AL (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 99/100 (Δ 1); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Monroe, LA relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Monroe's top-third Life Score
Monroe scores 64.6/100 overall, but Cost of Living (100.0) and Wages (2.6) sit 97.4 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Cost of Living is the strongest of Monroe'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
- Lafayette is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Lafayette
A high composite is a weighted blend; it does not mean every dimension is strong.