Metro Life Score
Reading, PA
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade C-, 19th percentile of the national corpus.
- 42.4
- Life Score / 100
- C-
- Grade (curved)
- #312
- of 387 metros
- 19%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Reading is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #312 of 387 (42.4/100, grade C-, 19th percentile). Carried by safety at 75/100; held back most by schools at 21/100.
- 19th
- composite percentile
- #312
- of 387 peers
- 33rd
- cost dimension percentile
- 45th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · SAFE-LED · signature composite
Reading: bottom-third composite — where the drag concentrates
Reading sits in the bottom third of the metro corpus on composite (#312 of 387, 42.4/100, 19th percentile). Stamps LOWER · SAFE-LED; Schools at 21/100 is the main drag; Safety (75/100) keeps the floor. Cost/wage marks DEAR/MID. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Reading, PA ranks #312 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #261 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 97.1 (rent-RPP 85.4). BLS median salary $63,487, 165,600 jobs (Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand, Retail Salespersons). HUD 2BR FMR $1,575/mo (studio $1,086).
FBI UCR (PA): 250 violent, 1457 property/100K. NCES: 13.0:1 ratio, 6.0% charter. EPA: 127 Superfund sites (PA).
Where Reading sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
42 19th percentile higher than 19% 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 42.4 is built
Reading's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Reading scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are PA state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Reading With...
Ranking Context
Reading outranks 19% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #309 | Redding, CA | 42.5 | C- |
| #310 | Manchester-Nashua, NH | 42.5 | C- |
| #311 | Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT | 42.5 | C |
| #312 | Reading, PA | 42.4 | C- |
| #313 | Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ | 42.2 | C- |
| #314 | Fort Collins-Loveland, CO | 42.2 | C- |
| #315 | Rochester, NY | 42.2 | C- |
Quality vs. Affordability
Reading, PA's quality rank (bottom 20% lowest-quality) and affordability rank (bottom 33% least affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
PA Metro Scores
Read with Reading
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Reading (LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Colorado Springs, CO
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID.
Gainesville, GA
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID.
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID.
Manchester-Nashua, NH
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID.
Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 32/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Rochester, NY (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 33/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Reading, PA relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Reading's bottom-third Life Score
Reading scores 42.4/100 overall, but Safety (74.6) and Schools (21.2) sit 53.4 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Safety is the strongest of Reading'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
- Schools is the weakest (weighted 10% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Johnstown is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Johnstown
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.