Metro Life Score
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
Below-median composite Life Score — grade C, 31st percentile of the national corpus.
- 45.4
- Life Score / 100
- C
- Grade (curved)
- #267
- of 387 metros
- 31%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington is below-median composite Life Score — #267 of 387 (45.4/100, grade C, 31st percentile). Carried by wages at 88/100; held back most by cost of living at 13/100.
- 31st
- composite percentile
- #267
- of 387 peers
- 13th
- cost dimension percentile
- 87th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · signature cost
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington: cost pressure is the outlier
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington is a LOWER-band metro where cost sits only at the 13th percentile (CEILING) — the clearest outlier vs wages at the 87th and composite #267. Cost of Living (13/100) is the main drag; Wages (88/100) keeps the floor. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD ranks #267 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #338 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 102.6 (rent-RPP 113.1). BLS median salary $74,260, 2,874,190 jobs (Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Registered Nurses, Fast Food and Counter Workers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,810/mo (studio $1,397).
FBI UCR (PA): 250 violent, 1457 property/100K. NCES: 13.0:1 ratio, 6.0% charter. EPA: 127 Superfund sites (PA).
Where Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
45 31st percentile higher than 31% 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 45.4 is built
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are PA state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington With...
Ranking Context
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington outranks 31% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #264 | Memphis, TN-MS-AR | 45.5 | C |
| #265 | Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI | 45.5 | C+ |
| #266 | Spartanburg, SC | 45.7 | C+ |
| #267 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 45.4 | C |
| #268 | Albany, OR | 45.4 | C |
| #269 | Eugene-Springfield, OR | 45.4 | C |
| #270 | Raleigh-Cary, NC | 45.4 | C |
Quality vs. Affordability
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD is bottom 31% lowest-quality nationally but only bottom 13% least affordable among its composite-quality peers -- its Life Score is earned mostly outside the cost dimension, not through being a budget option.
PA Metro Scores
Read with Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington (LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Albany, OR
ABS(composite) peer at 45.4 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK.
Eugene-Springfield, OR
ABS(composite) peer at 45.4 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK.
Raleigh-Cary, NC
ABS(composite) peer at 45.4 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK.
Traverse City, MI
ABS(composite) peer at 45.4 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK.
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 12/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Worcester, MA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 13/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington's bottom-third Life Score
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington scores 45.4/100 overall, but Wages (87.6) and Cost of Living (12.7) sit 74.9 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Wages is the strongest of Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington'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
- Cost of Living is the weakest (weighted 20% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Johnstown is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Johnstown
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.