Metro Life Score

Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA

Compiled byPlainCompare Editorial, PlainCompare Editorial Team · Updated May 16, 2026

45.7
Life Score / 100: C+
Grade (curved): #263
of 387 metros: 32%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

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

The verdict

Portland ranks #263 of 387 US metros, ahead of 32% - carried by its wages (94/100) and held back most by cost of living (7/100).

94
strongest: Wages: 79
then: Schools: 7
weakest: Cost of Living: 7
weighted dimensions

Where Portland sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

46 32th percentile higher than 32% 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 · May 2026

How the score is built

Reading the Portland Life Score

Portland's composite score of 45.7 out of 100, a grade of C+, places the metro at rank #263 of 387, ahead of 32% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Wages (94/100) and Schools (79/100), which pull the composite upward, while Cost of Living (7/100) and Rent (11/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

BEA RPP 105.4 (rent-RPP 125.1). BLS median salary $79,572, 1,180,420 jobs (Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons, Stockers and Order Fillers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,922/mo (studio $1,570).

FBI UCR (OR): 335 violent, 2410 property/100K. NCES: 17.6:1 ratio, 10.1% charter. DOL infant childcare $12,639/yr. EPA: 21 Superfund sites (OR). Ranks #260-#266 below.

Dimension detail

How Portland scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 7/100 (20%)

Wages 94/100 (20%)

Rent 11/100 (15%)

Safety 43/100 (15%)

Schools 79/100 (10%)

Childcare 24/100 (10%)

Environment 72/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

105.4

Cost Index (RPP)

$79,572

Avg Median Salary

$1,922

2BR Fair Market Rent

335

Violent Crime/100K (OR)

17.6:1

Student-Teacher Ratio

$12,639

Infant Childcare/yr (OR)

Superfund Sites (OR)

1,180,420

Total Employment

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

Compare Portland With...

Portland vs Salem Compare → Portland vs Medford Compare → Portland vs Bend Compare → Portland vs Wildwood Compare → Portland vs Waterloo Compare → Portland vs Paducah Compare →

Ranking Context

Portland outranks 32% of U.S. metros.

Rank	Metro	Score	Grade
#260	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	45.8	C+
#261	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	45.8	C+
#262	Tucson, AZ	46.0	C+
#263	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	45.7	C+
#264	Amarillo, TX	45.7	C+
#265	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	45.7	C+
#266	Farmington, NM	45.7	C+

OR Metro Scores

Salem, OR C+ 47.6 Medford, OR C 43.1 Bend, OR C- 41.4 Eugene-Springfield, OR C- 40.9 Corvallis, OR C- 40.7 Grants Pass, OR C- 40.3

Using Portland's Life Score

Portland 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 wages (94/100) and its weakest is cost of living (7/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
Put Portland head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
See where Portland 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 Portland's biggest strengths? ▼

Portland's strongest dimensions are Wages (94/100), Schools (79/100), Environment (72/100). Wages is top-tier nationally.

What are Portland's weakest areas? ▼

Portland's lowest-scoring dimensions are Cost of Living (7/100), Rent (11/100), Childcare (24/100). Cost of Living weighs heavily on the composite.

How expensive is Portland compared to the national average? ▼

Portland's Regional Price Parity is 105.4 (5.4% more than national); rent RPP 125.1.

What is the average salary in Portland? ▼

Portland median salary: $79,572, 1,180,420 jobs. Top: Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons, Stockers and Order Fillers.

How is the life score calculated? ▼

Portland's 45.7/100 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.

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial

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.