PlainCompare

Metro Life Score

Rocky Mount, NC

65.8
Life Score / 100
A+
Grade (curved)
#11
of 387 metros
97%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

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

The verdict

Rocky Mount ranks #11 of 387 US metros, ahead of 97% - carried by its safety (93/100) and held back most by wages (20/100).

93
strongest: Safety
87
then: Cost of Living
20
weakest: Wages
7
weighted dimensions

Where Rocky Mount sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

66 Top 3% higher than 97% 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%). Below this entry. 55–60: 68 US metros (18%). Below this entry. 60–65: 40 US metros (10%). Below this entry. 65–70: 12 US metros (3%). This entry sits in this band. 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 Rocky Mount Life Score

Rocky Mount's composite score of 65.8 out of 100, a grade of A+, places the metro at rank #11 of 387, ahead of 97% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Safety (93/100) and Cost of Living (87/100), which pull the composite upward, while Wages (20/100) and Childcare (57/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

BEA RPP 88.0 (rent-RPP 56.1). BLS median salary $58,055, 47,780 jobs (Cashiers, Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand, Retail Salespersons). HUD 2BR FMR $1,143/mo (studio $913).

FBI UCR (NC): 365 violent, 1930 property/100K. NCES: 15.8:1 ratio, 7.6% charter. DOL infant childcare $9,487/yr. EPA: 42 Superfund sites (NC). Ranks #8-#14 below.

Dimension detail

How Rocky Mount scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 87/100 (20%)
Wages 20/100 (20%)
Rent 74/100 (15%)
Safety 93/100 (15%)
Schools 62/100 (10%)
Childcare 57/100 (10%)
Environment 76/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

88.0
Cost Index (RPP)
$58,055
Avg Median Salary
$1,143
2BR Fair Market Rent
365
Violent Crime/100K (NC)
15.8:1
Student-Teacher Ratio
$9,487
Infant Childcare/yr (NC)
42
Superfund Sites (NC)
47,780
Total Employment

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

Compare Rocky Mount With...

Rocky Mount vs Winston Compare → Rocky Mount vs Greenville Compare → Rocky Mount vs Hickory Compare → Rocky Mount vs Wildwood Compare → Rocky Mount vs Waterloo Compare → Rocky Mount vs Paducah Compare →

Ranking Context

Rocky Mount outranks 97% of U.S. metros.

Rank Metro Score Grade
#8 Tuscaloosa, AL 66.3 A+
#9 Toledo, OH 66.3 A+
#10 Greenville, NC 66.6 A+
#11 Rocky Mount, NC 65.8 A+
#12 Youngstown-Warren, OH 65.8 A
#13 Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH 65.7 A
#14 Ames, IA 65.2 A

NC Metro Scores

Winston-Salem, NC A+ 69.8 Greenville, NC A+ 66.6 Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC A 63.4 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC A- 59.2 Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC B+ 58.6 Fayetteville, NC B+ 58.0

Using Rocky Mount's Life Score

Rocky Mount 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 safety (93/100) and its weakest is wages (20/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
  • Put Rocky Mount head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
  • See where Rocky Mount 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 Rocky Mount's biggest strengths? ▼
Rocky Mount's strongest dimensions are Safety (93/100), Cost of Living (87/100), Environment (76/100). Safety is top-tier nationally.
What are Rocky Mount's weakest areas? ▼
Rocky Mount's lowest-scoring dimensions are Wages (20/100), Childcare (57/100), Schools (62/100). Wages weighs heavily on the composite.
How expensive is Rocky Mount compared to the national average? ▼
Rocky Mount's Regional Price Parity is 88.0 (12.0% less than national); rent RPP 56.1.
What is the average salary in Rocky Mount? ▼
Rocky Mount median salary: $58,055, 47,780 jobs. Top: Cashiers, Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand, Retail Salespersons.
How is the life score calculated? ▼
Rocky Mount's 65.8/100 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.