Metro Life Score
Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC
Above-median composite Life Score — grade B-, 52nd percentile of the national corpus.
- 50.1
- Life Score / 100
- B-
- Grade (curved)
- #187
- of 387 metros
- 52%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Pinehurst-Southern Pines is above-median composite Life Score — #187 of 387 (50.1/100, grade B-, 52nd percentile). Carried by cost of living at 85/100; held back most by wages at 18/100.
- 52nd
- composite percentile
- #187
- of 387 peers
- 85th
- cost dimension percentile
- 18th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · MID · COST-LED · signature cost
Pinehurst-Southern Pines: affordability leads the Life Score story
Pinehurst-Southern Pines is a MID-band metro whose cost dimension sits at the 85th percentile of 387 US metros (CHEAP) while composite is #187 (50.1/100, grade B-). Cost of Living at 85/100 carries the upside; Wages at 18/100 is the residual drag. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC ranks #187 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #59 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 88.3 (rent-RPP 59.3). BLS median salary $59,014, 36,690 jobs (Registered Nurses, Retail Salespersons, Cashiers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,358/mo (studio $1,157).
FBI UCR (NC): 365 violent, 1930 property/100K. NCES: 16.1:1 ratio, 7.6% charter. DOL infant childcare $9,487/yr. EPA: 42 Superfund sites (NC).
Where Pinehurst-Southern Pines sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
50 52nd percentile higher than 52% 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 50.1 is built
Pinehurst-Southern Pines's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Pinehurst-Southern Pines scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are NC state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Pinehurst-Southern Pines With...
Ranking Context
Pinehurst-Southern Pines outranks 52% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #184 | Athens-Clarke County, GA | 50.2 | B- |
| #185 | Florence, SC | 50.3 | B- |
| #186 | El Centro, CA | 50.3 | B- |
| #187 | Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC | 50.1 | B- |
| #188 | Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN | 50.1 | B- |
| #189 | Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI | 50.0 | B- |
| #190 | Goldsboro, NC | 49.9 | B- |
Quality vs. Affordability
Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC is top 48% highest-quality nationally and also top 15% most affordable -- a rarer combination among its composite-quality peers, where overall rank and affordability rank usually diverge more than this.
NC Metro Scores
Read with Pinehurst-Southern Pines
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Pinehurst-Southern Pines (MID · COST-LED · CHEAP/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN
ABS(composite) peer at 50.1 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B- vs this page's MID · COST-LED · CHEAP/LOW.
Athens-Clarke County, GA
ABS(composite) peer at 50.2 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B- vs this page's MID · COST-LED · CHEAP/LOW.
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI
ABS(composite) peer at 50.0 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade B- vs this page's MID · COST-LED · CHEAP/LOW.
El Centro, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 50.3 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B- vs this page's MID · COST-LED · CHEAP/LOW.
Wheeling, WV-OH (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 85/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's CHEAP.
Beckley, WV (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 85/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CHEAP vs this metro's CHEAP.
Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for MID · COST-LED · CHEAP/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Pinehurst-Southern Pines's middle-third Life Score
Pinehurst-Southern Pines scores 50.1/100 overall, but Cost of Living (85.0) and Wages (18.4) sit 66.6 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Cost of Living is the strongest of Pinehurst-Southern Pines'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
- Wages is the weakest (weighted 20% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Greenville is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Greenville
A middle-third composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can sit well above or below it.