Metro Life Score
New Haven, CT
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade C-, 16th percentile of the national corpus.
- 41.2
- Life Score / 100
- C-
- Grade (curved)
- #325
- of 387 metros
- 16%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
New Haven is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #325 of 387 (41.2/100, grade C-, 16th percentile). Carried by safety at 98/100; held back most by cost of living at 8/100.
- 16th
- composite percentile
- #325
- of 387 peers
- 8th
- cost dimension percentile
- 94th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · signature wages
New Haven: pay power is the signature
New Haven stamps LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE with wages at the 94th percentile of the metro corpus (PEAK) — ahead of its cost mark (CEILING, 8th) and composite #325. Safety (98/100) amplifies the lead; Cost of Living (8/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, New Haven, CT ranks #325 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #356 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 104.6 (rent-RPP 124.3). BLS median salary $78,194, 261,300 jobs (Registered Nurses, Stockers and Order Fillers, Home Health and Personal Care Aides). HUD 2BR FMR $1,969/mo (studio $1,372).
FBI UCR (CT): 139 violent, 1397 property/100K. NCES: 12.2:1 ratio, 2.1% charter. DOL infant childcare $17,127/yr. EPA: 17 Superfund sites (CT).
Where New Haven sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
41 16th percentile higher than 16% 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 41.2 is built
New Haven's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How New Haven scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are CT state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare New Haven With...
Ranking Context
New Haven outranks 16% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #322 | Cleveland, TN | 41.3 | C- |
| #323 | Pittsfield, MA | 41.4 | C- |
| #324 | Greeley, CO | 41.8 | C- |
| #325 | New Haven, CT | 41.2 | C- |
| #326 | Columbia, SC | 41.2 | C- |
| #327 | Boulder, CO | 41.1 | C- |
| #328 | Chico, CA | 41.1 | C- |
Quality vs. Affordability
New Haven, CT's quality rank (bottom 16% lowest-quality) and affordability rank (bottom 8% least affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
CT Metro Scores
Read with New Haven
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for New Haven (LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Columbia, SC
ABS(composite) peer at 41.2 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK.
Cleveland, TN
ABS(composite) peer at 41.3 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK.
Boulder, CO
ABS(composite) peer at 41.1 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK.
Chico, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 41.1 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK.
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 8/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 8/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
New Haven, CT relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using New Haven's bottom-third Life Score
New Haven scores 41.2/100 overall, but Safety (98.4) and Cost of Living (8.0) sit 90.4 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Safety is the strongest of New Haven's seven dimensions (weighted 15% in the composite); if it is your priority, this is where the metro earns its rank. See all seven dimensions
- Cost of Living is the weakest (weighted 20% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Norwich is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Norwich
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.