Metro Life Score
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL
Above-median composite Life Score — grade B-, 56th percentile of the national corpus.
- 51.0
- Life Score / 100
- B-
- Grade (curved)
- #170
- of 387 metros
- 56%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville is above-median composite Life Score — #170 of 387 (51.0/100, grade B-, 56th percentile). Carried by safety at 93/100; held back most by rent at 20/100.
- 56th
- composite percentile
- #170
- of 387 peers
- 23rd
- cost dimension percentile
- 61st
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · MID · SAFE-LED · signature cost
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville: cost pressure is the outlier
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville is a MID-band metro where cost sits only at the 23rd percentile (DEAR) — the clearest outlier vs wages at the 61st and composite #170. Rent (20/100) is the main drag; Safety (93/100) keeps the floor. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL ranks #170 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #298 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 100.0 (rent-RPP 111.7). BLS median salary $66,315, 236,180 jobs (Retail Salespersons, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Registered Nurses). HUD 2BR FMR $1,709/mo (studio $1,266).
FBI UCR (FL): 210 violent, 1030 property/100K. NCES: 17.8:1 ratio, 18.0% charter. DOL infant childcare $10,505/yr. EPA: 81 Superfund sites (FL).
Where Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
51 56th percentile higher than 56% 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 51.0 is built
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are FL state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville With...
Ranking Context
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville outranks 56% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #167 | Richmond, VA | 51.2 | B- |
| #168 | Fort Wayne, IN | 51.2 | B- |
| #169 | Utica-Rome, NY | 51.3 | B- |
| #170 | Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL | 51.0 | B- |
| #171 | Abilene, TX | 50.8 | B- |
| #172 | Gainesville, FL | 50.8 | B- |
| #173 | Logan, UT-ID | 50.8 | B- |
Quality vs. Affordability
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL is top 44% highest-quality nationally but only bottom 23% least affordable among its composite-quality peers -- its Life Score is earned mostly outside the cost dimension, not through being a budget option.
FL Metro Scores
Read with Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville (MID · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Abilene, TX
ABS(composite) peer at 50.8 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade B- vs this page's MID · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID.
Fort Wayne, IN
ABS(composite) peer at 51.2 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B- vs this page's MID · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID.
Gainesville, FL
ABS(composite) peer at 50.8 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade B- vs this page's MID · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID.
Logan, UT-ID
ABS(composite) peer at 50.8 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade B- vs this page's MID · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID.
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 23/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 23/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for MID · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville's middle-third Life Score
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville scores 51.0/100 overall, but Safety (93.0) and Rent (20.2) sit 72.8 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Safety is the strongest of Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville's seven dimensions (weighted 15% 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
- Wildwood is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Wildwood
A middle-third composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can sit well above or below it.