Metro Life Score

Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL

Compiled byPlainCompare Editorial, PlainCompare Editorial Team · Updated May 16, 2026

46.4
Life Score / 100: C+
Grade (curved): #251
of 387 metros: 35%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

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

The verdict

Orlando ranks #251 of 387 US metros, ahead of 35% - carried by its safety (85/100) and held back most by rent (9/100).

85
strongest: Safety: 85
then: Schools: 9
weakest: Rent: 7
weighted dimensions

Where Orlando sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

46 35th percentile higher than 35% 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 · May 2026

How the score is built

Reading the Orlando Life Score

Orlando's composite score of 46.4 out of 100, a grade of C+, places the metro at rank #251 of 387, ahead of 35% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Safety (85/100) and Schools (85/100), which pull the composite upward, while Rent (9/100) and Cost of Living (16/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

BEA RPP 101.4 (rent-RPP 123.4). BLS median salary $65,387, 1,382,410 jobs (Retail Salespersons, Waiters and Waitresses, Customer Service Representatives). HUD 2BR FMR $1,972/mo (studio $1,650).

FBI UCR (FL): 210 violent, 1030 property/100K. NCES: 17.8:1 ratio, 17.9% charter. DOL infant childcare $10,505/yr. EPA: 81 Superfund sites (FL). Ranks #248-#254 below.

Dimension detail

How Orlando scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 16/100 (20%)

Wages 45/100 (20%)

Rent 9/100 (15%)

Safety 85/100 (15%)

Schools 85/100 (10%)

Childcare 49/100 (10%)

Environment 67/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

101.4

Cost Index (RPP)

$65,387

Avg Median Salary

$1,972

2BR Fair Market Rent

210

Violent Crime/100K (FL)

17.8:1

Student-Teacher Ratio

$10,505

Infant Childcare/yr (FL)

Superfund Sites (FL)

1,382,410

Total Employment

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

Compare Orlando With...

Orlando vs Wildwood Compare → Orlando vs Jacksonville Compare → Orlando vs Tallahassee Compare → Orlando vs Waterloo Compare → Orlando vs Paducah Compare →

Ranking Context

Orlando outranks 35% of U.S. metros.

Rank	Metro	Score	Grade
#248	Jefferson City, MO	46.5	C+
#249	Gainesville, FL	46.5	C+
#250	Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC	46.6	C+
#251	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	46.4	C+
#252	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	46.4	C+
#253	Salisbury, MD	46.1	C+
#254	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	46.1	C+

FL Metro Scores

Wildwood-The Villages, FL A+ 71.6 Jacksonville, FL B+ 59.0 Tallahassee, FL B 54.9 Sebring, FL B 54.8 Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL B 52.8 Homosassa Springs, FL B- 51.0

Using Orlando's Life Score

Orlando 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 safety (85/100) and its weakest is rent (9/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
Put Orlando head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
See where Orlando 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 Orlando's biggest strengths? ▼

Orlando's strongest dimensions are Safety (85/100), Schools (85/100), Environment (67/100). Safety is top-tier nationally.

What are Orlando's weakest areas? ▼

Orlando's lowest-scoring dimensions are Rent (9/100), Cost of Living (16/100), Wages (45/100). Rent weighs heavily on the composite.

How expensive is Orlando compared to the national average? ▼

Orlando's Regional Price Parity is 101.4 (1.4% more than national); rent RPP 123.4.

What is the average salary in Orlando? ▼

Orlando median salary: $65,387, 1,382,410 jobs. Top: Retail Salespersons, Waiters and Waitresses, Customer Service Representatives.

How is the life score calculated? ▼

Orlando's 46.4/100 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.

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

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.