PlainCompare

Metro Life Score

Paducah, KY-IL

70.0
Life Score / 100
A+
Grade (curved)
#3
of 387 metros
99%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

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

The verdict

Paducah ranks #3 of 387 US metros, ahead of 99% - carried by its rent (96/100) and held back most by wages (22/100).

96
strongest: Rent
94
then: Cost of Living
22
weakest: Wages
7
weighted dimensions

Where Paducah sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

70 Top 1% higher than 99% 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%). Below this entry. 45–50: 81 US metros (21%). Below this entry. 50–55: 67 US metros (17%). Below this entry. 55–60: 68 US metros (18%). Below this entry. 60–65: 40 US metros (10%). Below this entry. 65–70: 12 US metros (3%). Below this entry. 70–75: 3 US metros (1%). This entry sits in this band. 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 Paducah Life Score

Paducah's composite score of 70.0 out of 100, a grade of A+, places the metro at rank #3 of 387, ahead of 99% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Rent (96/100) and Cost of Living (94/100), which pull the composite upward, while Wages (22/100) and Schools (53/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

BEA RPP 86.1 (rent-RPP 48.8). BLS median salary $62,516, 43,110 jobs (Retail Salespersons, Registered Nurses, General and Operations Managers). HUD 2BR FMR $969/mo (studio $784).

FBI UCR (KY): 225 violent, 1397 property/100K. NCES: 15.2:1 ratio, 0.0% charter. DOL infant childcare $7,238/yr. EPA: 20 Superfund sites (KY). Ranks #1-#6 below.

Dimension detail

How Paducah scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 94/100 (20%)
Wages 22/100 (20%)
Rent 96/100 (15%)
Safety 77/100 (15%)
Schools 53/100 (10%)
Childcare 88/100 (10%)
Environment 68/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

86.1
Cost Index (RPP)
$62,516
Avg Median Salary
$969
2BR Fair Market Rent
225
Violent Crime/100K (KY)
15.2:1
Student-Teacher Ratio
$7,238
Infant Childcare/yr (KY)
20
Superfund Sites (KY)
43,110
Total Employment

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

Compare Paducah With...

Paducah vs Owensboro Compare → Paducah vs Elizabethtown Compare → Paducah vs Lexington Compare → Paducah vs Wildwood Compare → Paducah vs Waterloo Compare → Paducah vs Winston Compare →

Ranking Context

Paducah outranks 99% of U.S. metros.

Rank Metro Score Grade
#1 Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA 71.5 A+
#2 Wildwood-The Villages, FL 71.6 A+
#3 Paducah, KY-IL 70.0 A+
#4 Winston-Salem, NC 69.8 A+
#5 St. Cloud, MN 69.5 A+
#6 Wheeling, WV-OH 68.2 A+

KY Metro Scores

Owensboro, KY A 63.4 Elizabethtown, KY A 61.4 Lexington-Fayette, KY A- 60.7 Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH A- 60.5 Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN A- 60.3 Bowling Green, KY B+ 58.0

Using Paducah's Life Score

Paducah 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 rent (96/100) and its weakest is wages (22/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
  • Put Paducah head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
  • See where Paducah 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 Paducah's biggest strengths? ▼
Paducah's strongest dimensions are Rent (96/100), Cost of Living (94/100), Childcare (88/100). Rent is top-tier nationally.
What are Paducah's weakest areas? ▼
Paducah's lowest-scoring dimensions are Wages (22/100), Schools (53/100), Environment (68/100). Wages weighs heavily on the composite.
How expensive is Paducah compared to the national average? ▼
Paducah's Regional Price Parity is 86.1 (13.9% less than national); rent RPP 48.8.
What is the average salary in Paducah? ▼
Paducah median salary: $62,516, 43,110 jobs. Top: Retail Salespersons, Registered Nurses, General and Operations Managers.
How is the life score calculated? ▼
Paducah's 70.0/100 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.