Metro Life Score
Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade D, 6th percentile of the national corpus.
- 38.7
- Life Score / 100
- D
- Grade (curved)
- #362
- of 387 metros
- 6%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Prescott Valley-Prescott is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #362 of 387 (38.7/100, grade D, 6th percentile). Carried by environment at 82/100; held back most by rent at 24/100.
- 6th
- composite percentile
- #362
- of 387 peers
- 28th
- cost dimension percentile
- 35th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED · signature composite
Prescott Valley-Prescott: bottom-third composite — where the drag concentrates
Prescott Valley-Prescott sits in the bottom third of the metro corpus on composite (#362 of 387, 38.7/100, 6th percentile). Stamps BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED; Rent at 24/100 is the main drag; Environment (82/100) keeps the floor. Cost/wage marks DEAR/LOW. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ ranks #362 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #279 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 98.3 (rent-RPP 98.8). BLS median salary $61,824, 65,740 jobs (General and Operations Managers, Retail Salespersons, Cashiers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,637/mo (studio $1,129).
FBI UCR (AZ): 429 violent, 1786 property/100K. NCES: 17.2:1 ratio, 25.9% charter. DOL infant childcare $11,301/yr. EPA: 13 Superfund sites (AZ).
Where Prescott Valley-Prescott sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
39 6th percentile higher than 6% 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 38.7 is built
Prescott Valley-Prescott's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Prescott Valley-Prescott scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are AZ state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Prescott Valley-Prescott With...
Ranking Context
Prescott Valley-Prescott outranks 6% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #359 | Springfield, MA | 38.8 | D |
| #360 | Elmira, NY | 38.8 | D |
| #361 | San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA | 39.2 | D |
| #362 | Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ | 38.7 | D |
| #363 | Clarksville, TN-KY | 38.5 | D |
| #364 | Napa, CA | 38.4 | D |
| #365 | Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN | 38.2 | D |
Quality vs. Affordability
Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ is bottom 7% lowest-quality nationally and also bottom 28% least affordable -- a rarer combination among its composite-quality peers, where overall rank and affordability rank usually diverge more than this.
AZ Metro Scores
Read with Prescott Valley-Prescott
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Prescott Valley-Prescott (BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Elmira, NY
ABS(composite) peer at 38.8 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/LOW.
Springfield, MA
ABS(composite) peer at 38.8 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/LOW.
Clarksville, TN-KY
ABS(composite) peer at 38.5 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/LOW.
Napa, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 38.4 (Δ 0.3 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/LOW.
Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 28/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Lancaster, PA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 28/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for BOTTOM · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Prescott Valley-Prescott's bottom-third Life Score
Prescott Valley-Prescott scores 38.7/100 overall, but Environment (82.4) and Rent (23.6) sit 58.8 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Environment is the strongest of Prescott Valley-Prescott's seven dimensions (weighted 10% 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
- Sierra Vista is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Sierra Vista
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.