Metro Life Score
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA
Below-median composite Life Score — grade C, 27th percentile of the national corpus.
- 44.7
- Life Score / 100
- C
- Grade (curved)
- #284
- of 387 metros
- 27%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is below-median composite Life Score — #284 of 387 (44.7/100, grade C, 27th percentile). Carried by wages at 93/100; held back most by rent at 10/100.
- 27th
- composite percentile
- #284
- of 387 peers
- 10th
- cost dimension percentile
- 93rd
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · WAGE-LED · signature wages
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater: pay power is the signature
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater stamps LOWER · WAGE-LED with wages at the 93rd percentile of the metro corpus (PEAK) — ahead of its cost mark (CEILING, 10th) and composite #284. Wages (93/100) amplifies the lead; Rent (10/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA ranks #284 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #350 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
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: 17.7:1 ratio, 0.6% charter. DOL infant childcare $15,987/yr. EPA: 69 Superfund sites (WA).
Where Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
45 27th percentile higher than 27% 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 44.7 is built
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 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 Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater With...
Ranking Context
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater outranks 27% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #281 | Corvallis, OR | 44.8 | C |
| #282 | Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ | 44.8 | C |
| #283 | Bellingham, WA | 44.9 | C |
| #284 | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA | 44.7 | C |
| #285 | Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC | 44.7 | C |
| #286 | Asheville, NC | 44.6 | C |
| #287 | Sherman-Denison, TX | 44.6 | C |
Quality vs. Affordability
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA is bottom 27% lowest-quality nationally but only bottom 10% 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 Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater (LOWER · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC
ABS(composite) peer at 44.7 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ
ABS(composite) peer at 44.8 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Corvallis, OR
ABS(composite) peer at 44.8 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Asheville, NC
ABS(composite) peer at 44.6 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 9/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Salem, OR (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 10/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater's bottom-third Life Score
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater scores 44.7/100 overall, but Wages (93.0) and Rent (9.6) sit 83.4 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Wages is the strongest of Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater'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
- Rent is the weakest (weighted 15% 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 low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.