PlainCompare

Metro Life Score

Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL

52.8
Life Score / 100
B
Grade (curved)
#156
of 387 metros
60%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

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

The verdict

Palm Bay ranks #156 of 387 US metros, ahead of 60% - carried by its safety (85/100) and held back most by rent (20/100).

85
strongest: Safety
85
then: Schools
20
weakest: Rent
7
weighted dimensions

Where Palm Bay sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

53 60th percentile higher than 60% 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%). This entry sits in this band. 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 Palm Bay Life Score

Palm Bay's composite score of 52.8 out of 100, a grade of B, places the metro at rank #156 of 387, ahead of 60% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Safety (85/100) and Schools (85/100), which pull the composite upward, while Rent (20/100) and Cost of Living (23/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

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, 17.9% charter. DOL infant childcare $10,505/yr. EPA: 81 Superfund sites (FL). Ranks #153-#159 below.

Dimension detail

How Palm Bay scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 23/100 (20%)
Wages 61/100 (20%)
Rent 20/100 (15%)
Safety 85/100 (15%)
Schools 85/100 (10%)
Childcare 49/100 (10%)
Environment 68/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

100.0
Cost Index (RPP)
$66,315
Avg Median Salary
$1,709
2BR Fair Market Rent
210
Violent Crime/100K (FL)
17.8:1
Student-Teacher Ratio
$10,505
Infant Childcare/yr (FL)
81
Superfund Sites (FL)
236,180
Total Employment

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

Compare Palm Bay With...

Palm Bay vs Wildwood Compare → Palm Bay vs Jacksonville Compare → Palm Bay vs Tallahassee Compare → Palm Bay vs Waterloo Compare → Palm Bay vs Paducah Compare →

Ranking Context

Palm Bay outranks 60% of U.S. metros.

Rank Metro Score Grade
#153 Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX 52.9 B
#154 Eau Claire, WI 52.9 B
#155 Baton Rouge, LA 53.2 B
#156 Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL 52.8 B
#157 Richmond, VA 52.8 B
#158 Lubbock, TX 52.7 B
#159 York-Hanover, PA 52.7 B

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 Homosassa Springs, FL B- 51.0 Naples-Marco Island, FL B- 49.8

Using Palm Bay's Life Score

Palm Bay 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 (20/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
  • Put Palm Bay head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
  • See where Palm Bay 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 Palm Bay's biggest strengths? ▼
Palm Bay's strongest dimensions are Safety (85/100), Schools (85/100), Environment (68/100). Safety is top-tier nationally.
What are Palm Bay's weakest areas? ▼
Palm Bay's lowest-scoring dimensions are Rent (20/100), Cost of Living (23/100), Childcare (49/100). Rent weighs heavily on the composite.
How expensive is Palm Bay compared to the national average? ▼
Palm Bay's Regional Price Parity is 100.0 (0.0% more than national); rent RPP 111.7.
What is the average salary in Palm Bay? ▼
Palm Bay median salary: $66,315, 236,180 jobs. Top: Retail Salespersons, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Registered Nurses.
How is the life score calculated? ▼
Palm Bay's 52.8/100 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.