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State Life Score

Colorado

Below-median composite Life Score — grade C, 31st percentile of the national corpus.

45.8
Life Score / 100
C
Grade (curved)
#35
of 51 states
31%
composite percentile

Data updated August 2026

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The verdict

Colorado is below-median composite Life Score — #35 of 51 (45.8/100, grade C, 31st percentile). Carried by environment at 88/100; held back most by safety at 10/100.

31st
composite percentile
#35
of 51 peers
24th
cost dimension percentile
76th
wages dimension percentile

Life Score shape · LOWER · ENVIRO-LED

Colorado at a glance

Colorado is a LOWER-band ENVIRO-LED state: environment leads at 88/100 while safety drags at 10/100 (DEAR cost · HIGH wages). According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Colorado ranks #35 of 51 states by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #39 of 51 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.

Where Colorado sits among all US states

Composite Life Score vs the 50 states + DC

46 31st percentile higher than 31% of 51 US states

25–30: 1 US states (2%). Below this entry. 30–35: 2 US states (4%). Below this entry. 35–40: 4 US states (8%). Below this entry. 40–45: 6 US states (12%). Below this entry. 45–50: 10 US states (20%). This entry sits in this band. 50–55: 12 US states (24%). Above this entry. 55–60: 10 US states (20%). Above this entry. 60–65: 4 US states (8%). Above this entry. 65–70: 2 US states (4%). Above this entry. This state 25 70 every US state, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US states. 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

Dimension detail

How Colorado scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 24/100 (20%)
Wages 78/100 (20%)
Rent 32/100 (15%)
Safety 10/100 (15%)
Schools 76/100 (10%)
Childcare 27/100 (10%)
Environment 88/100 (10%)

Read with Colorado

Nearest composite peers and cost poles (LOWER · DEAR/HIGH).

Florida

ABS(composite) peer at 45.6 (Δ 0.2 vs this state); lower Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/HIGH.

Rhode Island

ABS(composite) peer at 45.3 (Δ 0.5 vs this state); lower Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/HIGH.

Tennessee

ABS(composite) peer at 45.3 (Δ 0.5 vs this state); lower Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/HIGH.

Nevada

ABS(composite) peer at 47.0 (Δ 1.2 vs this state); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/HIGH.

Alaska (cost pole)

ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 26/100 (Δ 2); cost stamp DEAR vs this state's DEAR.

Oregon (cost pole)

ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 22/100 (Δ 2); cost stamp DEAR vs this state's DEAR.
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Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from official public datasets, current as of 2026. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare