Metro Life Score
Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA
Below-median composite Life Score — grade C+, 36th percentile of the national corpus.
- 46.2
- Life Score / 100
- C+
- Grade (curved)
- #248
- of 387 metros
- 36%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Mount Vernon-Anacortes is below-median composite Life Score — #248 of 387 (46.2/100, grade C+, 36th percentile). Carried by wages at 89/100; held back most by childcare at 13/100.
- 36th
- composite percentile
- #248
- of 387 peers
- 13th
- cost dimension percentile
- 89th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · MID · WAGE-LED · signature wages
Mount Vernon-Anacortes: pay power is the signature
Mount Vernon-Anacortes stamps MID · WAGE-LED with wages at the 89th percentile of the metro corpus (PEAK) — ahead of its cost mark (CEILING, 13th) and composite #248. Wages (89/100) amplifies the lead; Childcare (13/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA ranks #248 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #335 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 102.4 (rent-RPP 108.2). BLS median salary $74,635, 46,720 jobs (Retail Salespersons, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Cashiers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,720/mo (studio $1,186).
FBI UCR (WA): 329 violent, 2498 property/100K. NCES: 17.7:1 ratio, 0.6% charter. DOL infant childcare $15,987/yr. EPA: 69 Superfund sites (WA).
Where Mount Vernon-Anacortes sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
46 36th percentile higher than 36% 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 46.2 is built
Mount Vernon-Anacortes's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Mount Vernon-Anacortes scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are WA state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Mount Vernon-Anacortes With...
Ranking Context
Mount Vernon-Anacortes outranks 36% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #245 | Watertown-Fort Drum, NY | 46.4 | C+ |
| #246 | Savannah, GA | 46.4 | C+ |
| #247 | Panama City-Panama City Beach, FL | 46.5 | C+ |
| #248 | Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA | 46.2 | C+ |
| #249 | Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL | 46.2 | C+ |
| #250 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | 46.2 | C+ |
| #251 | Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor, FL | 46.2 | C+ |
Quality vs. Affordability
Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA is bottom 36% lowest-quality nationally but only bottom 14% least affordable among its composite-quality peers -- its Life Score is earned mostly outside the cost dimension, not through being a budget option.
WA Metro Scores
Read with Mount Vernon-Anacortes
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Mount Vernon-Anacortes (MID · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL
ABS(composite) peer at 46.2 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
ABS(composite) peer at 46.2 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor, FL
ABS(composite) peer at 46.2 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI
ABS(composite) peer at 46.1 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 14/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Bozeman, MT (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 13/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for MID · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Mount Vernon-Anacortes's middle-third Life Score
Mount Vernon-Anacortes scores 46.2/100 overall, but Wages (88.9) and Childcare (12.6) sit 76.2 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Wages is the strongest of Mount Vernon-Anacortes'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
- Childcare is the weakest (weighted 10% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Yakima is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Yakima
A middle-third composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can sit well above or below it.