PlainCompare

Metro Life Score

Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA

44.3
Life Score / 100
C
Grade (curved)
#279
of 387 metros
28%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census

The verdict

Olympia ranks #279 of 387 US metros, ahead of 28% - carried by its wages (95/100) and held back most by rent (10/100).

95
strongest: Wages
72
then: Schools
10
weakest: Rent
7
weighted dimensions

Where Olympia sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

44 28th percentile higher than 28% of 387 US metros

25–30: 1 US metros (0%). Below this entry. 30–35: 16 US metros (4%). Below this entry. 35–40: 46 US metros (12%). Below this entry. 40–45: 53 US metros (14%). This entry sits in this band. 45–50: 81 US metros (21%). Above this entry. 50–55: 67 US metros (17%). Above this entry. 55–60: 68 US metros (18%). Above this entry. 60–65: 40 US metros (10%). Above this entry. 65–70: 12 US metros (3%). Above this entry. 70–75: 3 US metros (1%). Above this entry. This metro 25 75 every US metro, bucketed by value

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 · May 2026

How the score is built

Reading the Olympia Life Score

Olympia's composite score of 44.3 out of 100, a grade of C, places the metro at rank #279 of 387, ahead of 28% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Wages (95/100) and Schools (72/100), which pull the composite upward, while Rent (10/100) and Cost of Living (10/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

BEA RPP 103.7 (rent-RPP 116.7). BLS median salary $77,750, 123,100 jobs (Fast Food and Counter Workers, General and Operations Managers, Home Health and Personal Care Aides). HUD 2BR FMR $1,960/mo (studio $1,538).

FBI UCR (WA): 329 violent, 2498 property/100K. NCES: 17.6:1 ratio, 0.6% charter. DOL infant childcare $15,987/yr. EPA: 69 Superfund sites (WA). Ranks #276-#282 below.

Dimension detail

How Olympia scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 10/100 (20%)
Wages 95/100 (20%)
Rent 10/100 (15%)
Safety 46/100 (15%)
Schools 72/100 (10%)
Childcare 12/100 (10%)
Environment 67/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

103.7
Cost Index (RPP)
$77,750
Avg Median Salary
$1,960
2BR Fair Market Rent
329
Violent Crime/100K (WA)
17.6:1
Student-Teacher Ratio
$15,987
Infant Childcare/yr (WA)
69
Superfund Sites (WA)
123,100
Total Employment

Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level where metro-specific data is unavailable.

Compare Olympia With...

Olympia vs Lewiston Compare → Olympia vs Yakima Compare → Olympia vs Longview Compare → Olympia vs Wildwood Compare → Olympia vs Waterloo Compare → Olympia vs Paducah Compare →

Ranking Context

Olympia outranks 28% of U.S. metros.

Rank Metro Score Grade
#276 San Angelo, TX 44.4 C
#277 Fort Smith, AR-OK 44.4 C
#278 Columbia, MO 44.5 C
#279 Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA 44.3 C
#280 Lebanon, PA 44.2 C
#281 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 44.2 C
#282 Ann Arbor, MI 44.0 C

WA Metro Scores

Lewiston, ID-WA A- 60.4 Yakima, WA B 54.4 Longview-Kelso, WA B- 50.0 Walla Walla, WA B- 49.6 Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA B- 49.4 Kennewick-Richland, WA B- 48.5

Using Olympia's Life Score

Olympia is a regional baseline, not a neighborhood reading, use it to shortlist, then dig into the dimensions that matter to you.

  • Its strongest dimension is wages (95/100) and its weakest is rent (10/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
  • Put Olympia head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
  • See where Olympia lands on the national rankings for cost, safety, pay and more. Browse rankings

Scores summarize federal data at the metro level; crime, schools and cost vary widely within a single metro.

Explore more

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Olympia's biggest strengths? ▼
Olympia's strongest dimensions are Wages (95/100), Schools (72/100), Environment (67/100). Wages is top-tier nationally.
What are Olympia's weakest areas? ▼
Olympia's lowest-scoring dimensions are Rent (10/100), Cost of Living (10/100), Childcare (12/100). Rent weighs heavily on the composite.
How expensive is Olympia compared to the national average? ▼
Olympia's Regional Price Parity is 103.7 (3.7% more than national); rent RPP 116.7.
What is the average salary in Olympia? ▼
Olympia median salary: $77,750, 123,100 jobs. Top: Fast Food and Counter Workers, General and Operations Managers, Home Health and Personal Care Aides.
How is the life score calculated? ▼
Olympia's 44.3/100 blends 7 federal-data dimensions - see our methodology page for the weighting.

Research Guides

Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, and EPA. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.

Related

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, and EPA. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

All federal data sources used on this page
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - multi-dimension demographic + housing + income aggregates for cross-area comparison. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • BEA Regional Economic Accounts - GDP, personal income, employment by state and metro. bea.gov/data/regional
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) - wage estimates for comparable-area indexing. bls.gov/oes
  • FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) - crime statistics for safety-score component. fbi.gov/ucr
  • NCES Common Core of Data - public-school quality indicators by area. nces.ed.gov/ccd
  • EPA AirNow + Air Quality System (AQS) - air-quality measurements by area. epa.gov/outdoor-air-quality-data
  • HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR) - county and metro housing-cost indicators. huduser.gov/datasets/fmr

Every figure on PlainCompare is loaded directly from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OEWS, NCES, DOL, EPA, and the Census Bureau, no number is typed in by an editor. This metro's Life Score is computed directly from the 7 federal sources cited above. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026.