Metro Life Score
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade D, 8th percentile of the national corpus.
- 39.4
- Life Score / 100
- D
- Grade (curved)
- #355
- of 387 metros
- 8%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
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The verdict
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #355 of 387 (39.4/100, grade D, 8th percentile). Carried by wages at 98/100; held back most by rent at 1/100.
- 8th
- composite percentile
- #355
- of 387 peers
- 1st
- cost dimension percentile
- 97th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · signature cost
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad: cost pressure is the outlier
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad is a BOTTOM-band metro where cost sits only at the 1st percentile (CEILING) — the clearest outlier vs wages at the 97th and composite #355. Rent (1/100) is the main drag; Wages (98/100) keeps the floor. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA ranks #355 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #382 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 111.9 (rent-RPP 179.3). BLS median salary $81,730, 1,508,190 jobs (Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons). HUD 2BR FMR $3,001/mo (studio $2,288).
FBI UCR (CA): 477 violent, 1986 property/100K. NCES: 20.8:1 ratio, 12.8% charter. DOL infant childcare $17,920/yr. EPA: 116 Superfund sites (CA).
Where San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
39 8th percentile higher than 8% 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 39.4 is built
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are CA state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad With...
Ranking Context
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad outranks 8% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #352 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | 39.6 | D |
| #353 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 39.7 | D |
| #354 | Missoula, MT | 39.7 | D |
| #355 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | 39.4 | D |
| #356 | Fairbanks-College, AK | 39.4 | D |
| #357 | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR | 39.3 | D |
| #358 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | 39.3 | D |
Quality vs. Affordability
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA's quality rank (bottom 9% lowest-quality) and affordability rank (bottom 2% least affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
CA Metro Scores
Read with San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad (BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Fairbanks-College, AK
ABS(composite) peer at 39.4 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR
ABS(composite) peer at 39.3 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 39.3 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 39.3 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Napa, CA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 1/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 2/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad's bottom-third Life Score
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad scores 39.4/100 overall, but Wages (97.7) and Rent (0.5) sit 97.2 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Wages is the strongest of San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad's seven dimensions (weighted 20% 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
- El Centro is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with El Centro
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.