Metro Life Score
St. Joseph, MO-KS
Above-median composite Life Score — grade B, 68th percentile of the national corpus.
- 54.3
- Life Score / 100
- B
- Grade (curved)
- #122
- of 387 metros
- 68%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
St. Joseph is above-median composite Life Score — #122 of 387 (54.3/100, grade B, 68th percentile). Carried by cost of living at 93/100; held back most by schools at 13/100.
- 68th
- composite percentile
- #122
- of 387 peers
- 93rd
- cost dimension percentile
- 34th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · UPPER · COST-LED · signature cost
St. Joseph: affordability leads the Life Score story
St. Joseph is a UPPER-band metro whose cost dimension sits at the 93rd percentile of 387 US metros (FLOOR) while composite is #122 (54.3/100, grade B). Cost of Living at 93/100 carries the upside; Schools at 13/100 is the residual drag. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, St. Joseph, MO-KS ranks #122 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #27 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 86.4 (rent-RPP 55.4). BLS median salary $61,551, 49,300 jobs (Home Health and Personal Care Aides, General and Operations Managers, Registered Nurses). HUD 2BR FMR $1,077/mo (studio $774).
FBI UCR (MO): 463 violent, 1972 property/100K. NCES: 12.2:1 ratio, 3.5% charter. EPA: 39 Superfund sites (MO).
Where St. Joseph sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
54 68th percentile higher than 68% 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 54.3 is built
St. Joseph's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How St. Joseph scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are MO state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare St. Joseph With...
Ranking Context
St. Joseph outranks 68% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #119 | Morgantown, WV | 54.4 | B |
| #120 | Macon-Bibb County, GA | 54.5 | B |
| #121 | Sheboygan, WI | 54.7 | B |
| #122 | St. Joseph, MO-KS | 54.3 | B |
| #123 | Rocky Mount, NC | 54.3 | B |
| #124 | Sandusky, OH | 54.3 | B |
| #125 | Longview, TX | 54.2 | B |
Quality vs. Affordability
St. Joseph, MO-KS is top 32% highest-quality nationally and also top 7% most affordable -- a rarer combination among its composite-quality peers, where overall rank and affordability rank usually diverge more than this.
MO Metro Scores
Read with St. Joseph
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for St. Joseph (UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Rocky Mount, NC
ABS(composite) peer at 54.3 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B vs this page's UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Sandusky, OH
ABS(composite) peer at 54.3 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B vs this page's UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Longview, TX
ABS(composite) peer at 54.2 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade B vs this page's UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Morgantown, WV
ABS(composite) peer at 54.4 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B vs this page's UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Morristown, TN (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 94/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 93/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
St. Joseph, MO-KS relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for UPPER · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using St. Joseph's top-third Life Score
St. Joseph scores 54.3/100 overall, but Cost of Living (93.3) and Schools (13.0) sit 80.3 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Cost of Living is the strongest of St. Joseph'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
- Schools is the weakest (weighted 10% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- St. Louis is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with St. Louis
A high composite is a weighted blend; it does not mean every dimension is strong.