Metro Life Score
New Orleans-Metairie, LA
Top-quartile composite Life Score — grade B+, 82nd percentile of the national corpus.
- 58.5
- Life Score / 100
- B+
- Grade (curved)
- #70
- of 387 metros
- 82%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
New Orleans-Metairie is top-quartile composite Life Score — #70 of 387 (58.5/100, grade B+, 82nd percentile). Carried by environment at 97/100; held back most by safety at 29/100.
- 82nd
- composite percentile
- #70
- of 387 peers
- 58th
- cost dimension percentile
- 53rd
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · UPPER · ENVIRO-LED · signature composite
New Orleans-Metairie: top-third composite Life Score
New Orleans-Metairie clears the top third of US metros on composite Life Score (#70 of 387, 58.5/100, grade B+, 82nd percentile). Stamps UPPER · ENVIRO-LED; cost MID (58th) · wages MID (53rd). Environment at 97/100 carries the lead; Safety (29/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, New Orleans-Metairie, LA ranks #70 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #162 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 92.6 (rent-RPP 86.0). BLS median salary $64,688, 428,400 jobs (Retail Salespersons, Registered Nurses, General and Operations Managers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,331/mo (studio $964).
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 New Orleans-Metairie sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
59 Top 18% higher than 82% 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 58.5 is built
New Orleans-Metairie's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How New Orleans-Metairie 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 New Orleans-Metairie With...
Ranking Context
New Orleans-Metairie outranks 82% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #67 | Rapid City, SD | 58.7 | A- |
| #68 | Dothan, AL | 58.7 | A- |
| #69 | Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH | 58.8 | A- |
| #70 | New Orleans-Metairie, LA | 58.5 | B+ |
| #71 | Columbus, GA-AL | 58.5 | A- |
| #72 | Fargo, ND-MN | 58.5 | A- |
| #73 | Lawrence, KS | 58.4 | B+ |
Quality vs. Affordability
New Orleans-Metairie, LA is top 18% highest-quality nationally but only top 42% most affordable among its composite-quality peers -- its Life Score is earned mostly outside the cost dimension, not through being a budget option.
LA Metro Scores
Read with New Orleans-Metairie
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for New Orleans-Metairie (UPPER · ENVIRO-LED · MID/MID), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Columbus, GA-AL
ABS(composite) peer at 58.5 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A- vs this page's UPPER · ENVIRO-LED · MID/MID.
Fargo, ND-MN
ABS(composite) peer at 58.5 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A- vs this page's UPPER · ENVIRO-LED · MID/MID.
Lawrence, KS
ABS(composite) peer at 58.4 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade B+ vs this page's UPPER · ENVIRO-LED · MID/MID.
Dothan, AL
ABS(composite) peer at 58.7 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A- vs this page's UPPER · ENVIRO-LED · MID/MID.
Fort Wayne, IN (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 59/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp MID vs this metro's MID.
Wausau, WI (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 58/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp MID vs this metro's MID.
New Orleans-Metairie, LA relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for UPPER · ENVIRO-LED · MID/MID - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using New Orleans-Metairie's top-third Life Score
New Orleans-Metairie scores 58.5/100 overall, but Environment (96.9) and Safety (28.8) sit 68.1 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Environment is the strongest of New Orleans-Metairie'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
- 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
- Monroe is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Monroe
A high composite is a weighted blend; it does not mean every dimension is strong.