PlainCompare

Metro Life Score

Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI

53.6
Life Score / 100
B
Grade (curved)
#149
of 387 metros
61%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

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

The verdict

Racine ranks #149 of 387 US metros, ahead of 61% - carried by its environment (73/100) and held back most by cost of living (38/100).

73
strongest: Environment
60
then: Safety
38
weakest: Cost of Living
7
weighted dimensions

Where Racine sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

54 61th percentile higher than 61% 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%). Below this entry. 50–55: 67 US metros (17%). This entry sits in this band. 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 Racine Life Score

Racine's composite score of 53.6 out of 100, a grade of B, places the metro at rank #149 of 387, ahead of 61% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Environment (73/100) and Safety (60/100), which pull the composite upward, while Cost of Living (38/100) and Childcare (40/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

BEA RPP 96.0 (rent-RPP 92.0). BLS median salary $66,191, 70,050 jobs (Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Retail Salespersons, Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand). HUD 2BR FMR $1,235/mo (studio $851).

FBI UCR (WI): 280 violent, 1157 property/100K. NCES: 14.4:1 ratio, 10.7% charter. DOL infant childcare $11,256/yr. EPA: 46 Superfund sites (WI). Ranks #146-#152 below.

Dimension detail

How Racine scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 38/100 (20%)
Wages 60/100 (20%)
Rent 60/100 (15%)
Safety 60/100 (15%)
Schools 48/100 (10%)
Childcare 40/100 (10%)
Environment 73/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

96.0
Cost Index (RPP)
$66,191
Avg Median Salary
$1,235
2BR Fair Market Rent
280
Violent Crime/100K (WI)
14.4:1
Student-Teacher Ratio
$11,256
Infant Childcare/yr (WI)
46
Superfund Sites (WI)
70,050
Total Employment

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

Compare Racine With...

Racine vs Wausau Compare → Racine vs Duluth Compare → Racine vs Oshkosh Compare → Racine vs Wildwood Compare → Racine vs Waterloo Compare → Racine vs Paducah Compare →

Ranking Context

Racine outranks 61% of U.S. metros.

Rank Metro Score Grade
#146 Salt Lake City-Murray, UT 53.8 B
#147 Evansville, IN 53.8 B
#148 Wichita Falls, TX 53.9 B
#149 Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI 53.6 B
#150 Janesville-Beloit, WI 53.6 B
#151 Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI 53.5 B
#152 Eagle Pass, TX 53.4 B

WI Metro Scores

Wausau, WI A- 61.1 Duluth, MN-WI A- 60.2 Oshkosh-Neenah, WI A- 60.1 Sheboygan, WI A- 59.8 La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN A- 59.1 Madison, WI B+ 56.9

Using Racine's Life Score

Racine 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 environment (73/100) and its weakest is cost of living (38/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
  • Put Racine head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
  • See where Racine 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 Racine's biggest strengths? ▼
Racine's strongest dimensions are Environment (73/100), Safety (60/100), Wages (60/100). Environment is top-tier nationally.
What are Racine's weakest areas? ▼
Racine's lowest-scoring dimensions are Cost of Living (38/100), Childcare (40/100), Schools (48/100). Cost of Living weighs heavily on the composite.
How expensive is Racine compared to the national average? ▼
Racine's Regional Price Parity is 96.0 (4.0% less than national); rent RPP 92.0.
What is the average salary in Racine? ▼
Racine median salary: $66,191, 70,050 jobs. Top: Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Retail Salespersons, Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand.
How is the life score calculated? ▼
Racine's 53.6/100 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.