Metro Life Score
Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade D, 10th percentile of the national corpus.
- 39.8
- Life Score / 100
- D
- Grade (curved)
- #350
- of 387 metros
- 10%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Santa Rosa-Petaluma is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #350 of 387 (39.8/100, grade D, 10th percentile). Carried by schools at 99/100; held back most by rent at 2/100.
- 10th
- composite percentile
- #350
- of 387 peers
- 5th
- cost dimension percentile
- 96th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · BOTTOM · SCHOOL-STRONG · signature wages
Santa Rosa-Petaluma: pay power is the signature
Santa Rosa-Petaluma stamps BOTTOM · SCHOOL-STRONG with wages at the 96th percentile of the metro corpus (PEAK) — ahead of its cost mark (CEILING, 5th) and composite #350. Schools (99/100) amplifies the lead; Rent (2/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA ranks #350 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #368 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 107.8 (rent-RPP 139.6). BLS median salary $80,131, 195,580 jobs (Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Retail Salespersons, Cashiers). HUD 2BR FMR $2,827/mo (studio $1,949).
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 Santa Rosa-Petaluma sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
40 10th percentile higher than 10% 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 39.8 is built
Santa Rosa-Petaluma's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Santa Rosa-Petaluma 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 Santa Rosa-Petaluma With...
Ranking Context
Santa Rosa-Petaluma outranks 10% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #347 | Sumter, SC | 39.9 | C- |
| #348 | Stockton-Lodi, CA | 39.9 | C- |
| #349 | Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY | 39.9 | C- |
| #350 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | 39.8 | D |
| #351 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 39.8 | D |
| #352 | Missoula, MT | 39.7 | D |
| #353 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 39.7 | D |
Quality vs. Affordability
Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA's quality rank (bottom 10% lowest-quality) and affordability rank (bottom 5% least affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
CA Metro Scores
Read with Santa Rosa-Petaluma
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Santa Rosa-Petaluma (BOTTOM · SCHOOL-STRONG · CEILING/PEAK), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 39.8 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · SCHOOL-STRONG · CEILING/PEAK.
Missoula, MT
ABS(composite) peer at 39.7 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · SCHOOL-STRONG · CEILING/PEAK.
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 39.7 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · SCHOOL-STRONG · CEILING/PEAK.
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
ABS(composite) peer at 39.9 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's BOTTOM · SCHOOL-STRONG · CEILING/PEAK.
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 5/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 5/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for BOTTOM · SCHOOL-STRONG · CEILING/PEAK - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Santa Rosa-Petaluma's bottom-third Life Score
Santa Rosa-Petaluma scores 39.8/100 overall, but Schools (99.0) and Rent (1.6) sit 97.4 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Schools is the strongest of Santa Rosa-Petaluma's seven dimensions (weighted 10% 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.