PlainCompare

Metro Life Score

Port St. Lucie, FL

47.7
Life Score / 100
C+
Grade (curved)
#224
of 387 metros
42%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

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

The verdict

Port St. Lucie ranks #224 of 387 US metros, ahead of 42% - carried by its schools (86/100) and held back most by rent (17/100).

86
strongest: Schools
84
then: Safety
17
weakest: Rent
7
weighted dimensions

Where Port St. Lucie sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

48 42th percentile higher than 42% 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%). This entry sits in this band. 50–55: 67 US metros (17%). Above this entry. 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 Port St. Lucie Life Score

Port St. Lucie's composite score of 47.7 out of 100, a grade of C+, places the metro at rank #224 of 387, ahead of 42% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Schools (86/100) and Safety (84/100), which pull the composite upward, while Rent (17/100) and Cost of Living (22/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

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, 17.9% charter. DOL infant childcare $10,505/yr. EPA: 81 Superfund sites (FL). Ranks #221-#227 below.

Dimension detail

How Port St. Lucie scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 22/100 (20%)
Wages 39/100 (20%)
Rent 17/100 (15%)
Safety 84/100 (15%)
Schools 86/100 (10%)
Childcare 48/100 (10%)
Environment 71/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

100.2
Cost Index (RPP)
$62,013
Avg Median Salary
$1,757
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)
160,790
Total Employment

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

Compare Port St. Lucie With...

Port St. Lucie vs Wildwood Compare → Port St. Lucie vs Jacksonville Compare → Port St. Lucie vs Tallahassee Compare → Port St. Lucie vs Waterloo Compare → Port St. Lucie vs Paducah Compare →

Ranking Context

Port St. Lucie outranks 42% of U.S. metros.

Rank Metro Score Grade
#221 Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL 47.9 C+
#222 Boise City, ID 47.9 C+
#223 St. George, UT 48.0 C+
#224 Port St. Lucie, FL 47.7 C+
#225 Victoria, TX 47.7 C+
#226 Salem, OR 47.6 C+
#227 Altoona, PA 47.5 C+

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 Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL B 52.8 Homosassa Springs, FL B- 51.0

Using Port St. Lucie's Life Score

Port St. Lucie 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 schools (86/100) and its weakest is rent (17/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
  • Put Port St. Lucie head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
  • See where Port St. Lucie 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 Port St. Lucie's biggest strengths? ▼
Port St. Lucie's strongest dimensions are Schools (86/100), Safety (84/100), Environment (71/100). Schools is top-tier nationally.
What are Port St. Lucie's weakest areas? ▼
Port St. Lucie's lowest-scoring dimensions are Rent (17/100), Cost of Living (22/100), Wages (39/100). Rent weighs heavily on the composite.
How expensive is Port St. Lucie compared to the national average? ▼
Port St. Lucie's Regional Price Parity is 100.2 (0.2% more than national); rent RPP 113.6.
What is the average salary in Port St. Lucie? ▼
Port St. Lucie median salary: $62,013, 160,790 jobs. Top: Retail Salespersons, Registered Nurses, Fast Food and Counter Workers.
How is the life score calculated? ▼
Port St. Lucie's 47.7/100 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.