Metro Life Score
State College, PA
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade C, 23rd percentile of the national corpus.
- 43.7
- Life Score / 100
- C
- Grade (curved)
- #297
- of 387 metros
- 23%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
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The verdict
State College is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #297 of 387 (43.7/100, grade C, 23rd percentile). Carried by safety at 74/100; held back most by schools at 22/100.
- 23rd
- composite percentile
- #297
- of 387 peers
- 34th
- cost dimension percentile
- 40th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · SAFE-LED · signature composite
State College: bottom-third composite — where the drag concentrates
State College sits in the bottom third of the metro corpus on composite (#297 of 387, 43.7/100, 23rd percentile). Stamps LOWER · SAFE-LED; Schools at 22/100 is the main drag; Safety (74/100) keeps the floor. Cost/wage marks DEAR/MID. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, State College, PA ranks #297 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #254 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 96.8 (rent-RPP 85.7). BLS median salary $62,669, 54,000 jobs (Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons, General and Operations Managers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,406/mo (studio $1,187).
FBI UCR (PA): 250 violent, 1457 property/100K. NCES: 13.6:1 ratio, 6.0% charter. EPA: 127 Superfund sites (PA).
Where State College 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
Dimension detail
How State College scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are PA state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare State College With...
Ranking Context
State College outranks 23% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #294 | Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT | 43.8 | C |
| #295 | Ann Arbor, MI | 43.8 | C |
| #296 | Salisbury, MD | 43.9 | C |
| #297 | State College, PA | 43.7 | 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 |
PA Metro Scores
Read with State College
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for State College (LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Ann Arbor, MI
ABS(composite) peer at 43.8 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID.
Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT
ABS(composite) peer at 43.8 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID.
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
ABS(composite) peer at 43.6 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID.
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ
ABS(composite) peer at 43.9 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID.
Gainesville, FL (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 35/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Gainesville, GA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 34/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
State College, PA relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/MID - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.