PlainCompare

Metro Life Score

St. Cloud, MN

69.5
Life Score / 100
A+
Grade (curved)
#5
of 387 metros
99%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

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

The verdict

St. Cloud ranks #5 of 387 US metros, ahead of 99% - carried by its cost of living (90/100) and held back most by childcare (34/100).

90
strongest: Cost of Living
86
then: Environment
34
weakest: Childcare
7
weighted dimensions

Where St. Cloud sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

70 Top 1% higher than 99% 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 St. Cloud Life Score

St. Cloud's composite score of 69.5 out of 100, a grade of A+, places the metro at rank #5 of 387, ahead of 99% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Cost of Living (90/100) and Environment (86/100), which pull the composite upward, while Childcare (34/100) and Schools (54/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

BEA RPP 87.6 (rent-RPP 65.1). BLS median salary $72,671, 96,960 jobs (Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Registered Nurses, Retail Salespersons). HUD 2BR FMR $1,206/mo (studio $874).

FBI UCR (MN): 259 violent, 1625 property/100K. NCES: 15.8:1 ratio, 11.9% charter. DOL infant childcare $11,722/yr. EPA: 49 Superfund sites (MN). Ranks #2-#8 below.

Dimension detail

How St. Cloud scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 90/100 (20%)
Wages 75/100 (20%)
Rent 63/100 (15%)
Safety 65/100 (15%)
Schools 54/100 (10%)
Childcare 34/100 (10%)
Environment 86/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

87.6
Cost Index (RPP)
$72,671
Avg Median Salary
$1,206
2BR Fair Market Rent
259
Violent Crime/100K (MN)
15.8:1
Student-Teacher Ratio
$11,722
Infant Childcare/yr (MN)
49
Superfund Sites (MN)
96,960
Total Employment

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

Compare St. Cloud With...

St. Cloud vs Sioux Falls Compare → St. Cloud vs Mankato Compare → St. Cloud vs Rochester Compare → St. Cloud vs Wildwood Compare → St. Cloud vs Waterloo Compare → St. Cloud vs Paducah Compare →

Ranking Context

St. Cloud outranks 99% of U.S. metros.

Rank Metro Score Grade
#2 Winston-Salem, NC 69.8 A+
#3 Paducah, KY-IL 70.0 A+
#4 Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA 71.5 A+
#5 St. Cloud, MN 69.5 A+
#6 Wheeling, WV-OH 68.2 A+
#7 Sioux City, IA-NE-SD 66.7 A+
#8 Greenville, NC 66.6 A+

MN Metro Scores

Sioux Falls, SD-MN A 64.0 Mankato, MN A 63.5 Rochester, MN A 63.4 Grand Forks, ND-MN A 62.5 Duluth, MN-WI A- 60.2 La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN A- 59.1

Using St. Cloud's Life Score

St. Cloud 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 cost of living (90/100) and its weakest is childcare (34/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
  • Put St. Cloud head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
  • See where St. Cloud 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 St. Cloud's biggest strengths? ▼
St. Cloud's strongest dimensions are Cost of Living (90/100), Environment (86/100), Wages (75/100). Cost of Living is top-tier nationally.
What are St. Cloud's weakest areas? ▼
St. Cloud's lowest-scoring dimensions are Childcare (34/100), Schools (54/100), Rent (63/100). Childcare weighs heavily on the composite.
How expensive is St. Cloud compared to the national average? ▼
St. Cloud's Regional Price Parity is 87.6 (12.4% less than national); rent RPP 65.1.
What is the average salary in St. Cloud? ▼
St. Cloud median salary: $72,671, 96,960 jobs. Top: Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Registered Nurses, Retail Salespersons.
How is the life score calculated? ▼
St. Cloud's 69.5/100 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.