Metro Life Score
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade C, 23rd percentile of the national corpus.
- 43.6
- Life Score / 100
- C
- Grade (curved)
- #298
- of 387 metros
- 23%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #298 of 387 (43.6/100, grade C, 23rd percentile). Carried by wages at 99/100; held back most by cost of living at 2/100.
- 23rd
- composite percentile
- #298
- of 387 peers
- 2nd
- cost dimension percentile
- 99th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · signature wages
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue: pay power is the signature
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue stamps LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE with wages at the 99th percentile of the metro corpus (PEAK) — ahead of its cost mark (CEILING, 2nd) and composite #298. Wages (99/100) amplifies the lead; Cost of Living (2/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA ranks #298 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #381 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 111.1 (rent-RPP 151.3). BLS median salary $92,550, 2,057,860 jobs (Software Developers, Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Fast Food and Counter Workers). HUD 2BR FMR $2,501/mo (studio $2,074).
FBI UCR (WA): 329 violent, 2498 property/100K. NCES: 17.7:1 ratio, 0.6% charter. DOL infant childcare $15,987/yr. EPA: 69 Superfund sites (WA).
Where Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
44 23rd percentile higher than 23% 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 43.6 is built
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are WA state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue With...
Ranking Context
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue outranks 23% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #295 | State College, PA | 43.7 | C |
| #296 | Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT | 43.8 | C |
| #297 | Ann Arbor, MI | 43.8 | C |
| #298 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 43.6 | C |
| #299 | Kenosha, WI | 43.5 | C |
| #300 | Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR | 43.5 | C |
| #301 | Albuquerque, NM | 43.2 | C |
Quality vs. Affordability
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA is bottom 23% lowest-quality nationally but only bottom 2% least affordable among its composite-quality peers -- its Life Score is earned mostly outside the cost dimension, not through being a budget option.
WA Metro Scores
Read with Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue (LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Kenosha, WI
ABS(composite) peer at 43.5 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK.
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR
ABS(composite) peer at 43.5 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK.
State College, PA
ABS(composite) peer at 43.7 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK.
Ann Arbor, MI
ABS(composite) peer at 43.8 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK.
Urban Honolulu, HI (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 (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 1/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/PEAK - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue's bottom-third Life Score
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue scores 43.6/100 overall, but Wages (99.5) and Cost of Living (1.6) sit 97.9 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Wages is the strongest of Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue'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
- Cost of Living is the weakest (weighted 20% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Yakima is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Yakima
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.