Metro Life Score
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade D, 6th percentile of the national corpus.
- 38.2
- Life Score / 100
- D
- Grade (curved)
- #365
- of 387 metros
- 6%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #365 of 387 (38.2/100, grade D, 6th percentile). Carried by wages at 68/100; held back most by safety at 2/100.
- 6th
- composite percentile
- #365
- of 387 peers
- 37th
- cost dimension percentile
- 68th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · signature composite
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin: bottom-third composite — where the drag concentrates
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin sits in the bottom third of the metro corpus on composite (#365 of 387, 38.2/100, 5th percentile). Stamps BOTTOM · WAGE-LED; Safety at 2/100 is the main drag; Wages (68/100) keeps the floor. Cost/wage marks DEAR/HIGH. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN ranks #365 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #245 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 96.3 (rent-RPP 104.6). BLS median salary $67,856, 1,079,340 jobs (Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons). HUD 2BR FMR $1,730/mo (studio $1,507).
FBI UCR (TN): 602 violent, 2058 property/100K. NCES: 15.2:1 ratio, 6.2% charter. DOL infant childcare $7,860/yr. EPA: 26 Superfund sites (TN).
Where Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
38 6th percentile higher than 6% 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 38.2 is built
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are TN state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin With...
Ranking Context
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin outranks 6% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #362 | Napa, CA | 38.4 | D |
| #363 | Clarksville, TN-KY | 38.5 | D |
| #364 | Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ | 38.7 | D |
| #365 | Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN | 38.2 | D |
| #366 | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | 38.2 | D |
| #367 | Salinas, CA | 38.2 | D |
| #368 | Dover, DE | 37.8 | D |
Quality vs. Affordability
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN is bottom 6% lowest-quality nationally and also bottom 37% least affordable -- a rarer combination among its composite-quality peers, where overall rank and affordability rank usually diverge more than this.
TN Metro Scores
Read with Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin (BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · DEAR/HIGH), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 38.2 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · DEAR/HIGH.
Salinas, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 38.2 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · DEAR/HIGH.
Napa, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 38.4 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · DEAR/HIGH.
Clarksville, TN-KY
ABS(composite) peer at 38.5 (Δ 0.3 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · DEAR/HIGH.
Kankakee, IL (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 37/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Springfield, MA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 37/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · DEAR/HIGH - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin's bottom-third Life Score
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin scores 38.2/100 overall, but Wages (68.4) and Safety (1.8) sit 66.6 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Wages is the strongest of Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin'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
- Safety is the weakest (weighted 15% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Kingsport is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Kingsport
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.