Metro Life Score
Port St. Lucie, FL
Below-median composite Life Score — grade C, 29th percentile of the national corpus.
- 45.3
- Life Score / 100
- C
- Grade (curved)
- #274
- of 387 metros
- 29%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Port St. Lucie is below-median composite Life Score — #274 of 387 (45.3/100, grade C, 29th percentile). Carried by safety at 92/100; held back most by rent at 17/100.
- 29th
- composite percentile
- #274
- of 387 peers
- 22nd
- cost dimension percentile
- 37th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · SAFE-LED · signature cost
Port St. Lucie: cost pressure is the outlier
Port St. Lucie is a LOWER-band metro where cost sits only at the 22nd percentile (DEAR) — the clearest outlier vs wages at the 37th and composite #274. Rent (17/100) is the main drag; Safety (92/100) keeps the floor. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Port St. Lucie, FL ranks #274 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #303 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 100.2 (rent-RPP 113.6). BLS median salary $62,013, 160,790 jobs (Retail Salespersons, Registered Nurses, Fast Food and Counter Workers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,757/mo (studio $1,455).
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 Port St. Lucie sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
45 29th percentile higher than 29% 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 45.3 is built
Port St. Lucie's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Port St. Lucie 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 Port St. Lucie With...
Ranking Context
Port St. Lucie outranks 29% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #271 | Yuma, AZ | 45.4 | C |
| #272 | Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA | 45.4 | C |
| #273 | Traverse City, MI | 45.4 | C |
| #274 | Port St. Lucie, FL | 45.3 | C |
| #275 | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | 45.3 | C |
| #276 | Jackson, TN | 45.3 | C |
| #277 | Punta Gorda, FL | 45.3 | C |
Quality vs. Affordability
Port St. Lucie, FL's quality rank (bottom 29% lowest-quality) and affordability rank (bottom 22% least affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
FL Metro Scores
Read with Port St. Lucie
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Port St. Lucie (LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI
ABS(composite) peer at 45.3 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/LOW.
Jackson, TN
ABS(composite) peer at 45.3 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/LOW.
Punta Gorda, FL
ABS(composite) peer at 45.3 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/LOW.
San Angelo, TX
ABS(composite) peer at 45.2 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/LOW.
Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 22/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Amherst Town-Northampton, MA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 22/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Port St. Lucie, FL relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Port St. Lucie's bottom-third Life Score
Port St. Lucie scores 45.3/100 overall, but Safety (92.2) and Rent (16.6) sit 75.6 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Safety is the strongest of Port St. Lucie'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 low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.