Metro Life Score
Pittsfield, MA
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade C-, 17th percentile of the national corpus.
- 41.4
- Life Score / 100
- C-
- Grade (curved)
- #322
- of 387 metros
- 17%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
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The verdict
Pittsfield is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #322 of 387 (41.4/100, grade C-, 17th percentile). Carried by wages at 86/100; held back most by childcare at 1/100.
- 17th
- composite percentile
- #322
- of 387 peers
- 42nd
- cost dimension percentile
- 86th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · WAGE-LED · signature wages
Pittsfield: pay power is the signature
Pittsfield stamps LOWER · WAGE-LED with wages at the 86th percentile of the metro corpus (PEAK) — ahead of its cost mark (MID, 42nd) and composite #322. Wages (86/100) amplifies the lead; Childcare (1/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Pittsfield, MA ranks #322 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #223 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 95.1 (rent-RPP 73.5). BLS median salary $73,362, 50,610 jobs (Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Retail Salespersons, General and Operations Managers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,626/mo (studio $1,245).
FBI UCR (MA): 309 violent, 1101 property/100K. NCES: 12.3:1 ratio, 4.2% charter. DOL infant childcare $20,571/yr. EPA: 41 Superfund sites (MA).
Where Pittsfield sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
41 17th percentile higher than 17% 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
Dimension detail
How Pittsfield scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are MA state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Pittsfield With...
Ranking Context
Pittsfield outranks 17% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #319 | Greeley, CO | 41.8 | C- |
| #320 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | 41.9 | C- |
| #321 | Hanford-Corcoran, CA | 42.0 | C- |
| #322 | Pittsfield, MA | 41.4 | C- |
| #323 | Cleveland, TN | 41.3 | C- |
| #324 | Columbia, SC | 41.2 | C- |
| #325 | New Haven, CT | 41.2 | C- |
MA Metro Scores
Read with Pittsfield
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Pittsfield (LOWER · WAGE-LED · MID/PEAK), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Cleveland, TN
ABS(composite) peer at 41.3 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · WAGE-LED · MID/PEAK.
Columbia, SC
ABS(composite) peer at 41.2 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · WAGE-LED · MID/PEAK.
New Haven, CT
ABS(composite) peer at 41.2 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · WAGE-LED · MID/PEAK.
Boulder, CO
ABS(composite) peer at 41.1 (Δ 0.3 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · WAGE-LED · MID/PEAK.
El Centro, CA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 42/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp MID vs this metro's MID.
St. Louis, MO-IL (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 43/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp MID vs this metro's MID.
Pittsfield, MA relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · WAGE-LED · MID/PEAK - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.