Metro Life Score
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade C-, 12th percentile of the national corpus.
- 40.1
- Life Score / 100
- C-
- Grade (curved)
- #342
- of 387 metros
- 12%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #342 of 387 (40.1/100, grade C-, 12th percentile). Carried by wages at 100/100; held back most by rent at 1/100.
- 12th
- composite percentile
- #342
- of 387 peers
- 2nd
- cost dimension percentile
- 100th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · signature wages
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara: pay power is the signature
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara stamps BOTTOM · WAGE-LED with wages at the 100th percentile of the metro corpus (PEAK) — ahead of its cost mark (CEILING, 2nd) and composite #342. Wages (100/100) amplifies the lead; Rent (1/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ranks #342 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #378 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 110.4 (rent-RPP 211.9). BLS median salary $98,655, 1,111,780 jobs (Software Developers, Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Fast Food and Counter Workers). HUD 2BR FMR $2,902/mo (studio $2,205).
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 Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
40 12th percentile higher than 12% 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 40.1 is built
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara 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 Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara With...
Ranking Context
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara outranks 12% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #339 | Kankakee, IL | 40.3 | C- |
| #340 | Flagstaff, AZ | 40.3 | C- |
| #341 | Anchorage, AK | 40.4 | C- |
| #342 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 40.1 | C- |
| #343 | Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | 40.0 | C- |
| #344 | Gettysburg, PA | 40.0 | C- |
| #345 | Knoxville, TN | 40.0 | C- |
Quality vs. Affordability
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA's quality rank (bottom 12% lowest-quality) and affordability rank (bottom 3% least affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
CA Metro Scores
Read with San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO
ABS(composite) peer at 40.0 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C- vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Gettysburg, PA
ABS(composite) peer at 40.0 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C- vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Knoxville, TN
ABS(composite) peer at 40.0 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C- vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Flagstaff, AZ
ABS(composite) peer at 40.3 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 3/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 2/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara's bottom-third Life Score
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara scores 40.1/100 overall, but Wages (100.0) and Rent (1.3) sit 98.7 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Wages is the strongest of San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara'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.