PlainCompare

State Life Score

New Mexico

Below-median composite Life Score — grade C+, 43rd percentile of the national corpus.

49.9
Life Score / 100
C+
Grade (curved)
#29
of 51 states
43%
composite percentile

Data updated August 2026

Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog

The verdict

New Mexico is below-median composite Life Score — #29 of 51 (49.9/100, grade C+, 43rd percentile). Carried by environment at 98/100; held back most by safety at 4/100.

43rd
composite percentile
#29
of 51 peers
71st
cost dimension percentile
33rd
wages dimension percentile

Life Score shape · MID · ENVIRO-LED

New Mexico at a glance

New Mexico is a MID-band ENVIRO-LED state: environment leads at 98/100 while safety drags at 4/100 (CHEAP cost · LOW wages). According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, New Mexico ranks #29 of 51 states by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #15 of 51 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.

Where New Mexico sits among all US states

Composite Life Score vs the 50 states + DC

50 43rd percentile higher than 43% 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 New Mexico scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 72/100 (20%)
Wages 34/100 (20%)
Rent 58/100 (15%)
Safety 4/100 (15%)
Schools 46/100 (10%)
Childcare -/100 (10%)
Environment 98/100 (10%)

Read with New Mexico

Nearest composite peers and cost poles (MID · CHEAP/LOW).

North Carolina

ABS(composite) peer at 49.9 (Δ 0.0 vs this state); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · ENVIRO-LED · CHEAP/LOW.

Oregon

ABS(composite) peer at 49.2 (Δ 0.7 vs this state); lower Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · ENVIRO-LED · CHEAP/LOW.

Pennsylvania

ABS(composite) peer at 50.7 (Δ 0.8 vs this state); higher Life Score · grade B- vs this page's MID · ENVIRO-LED · CHEAP/LOW.

Maine

ABS(composite) peer at 50.8 (Δ 0.9 vs this state); higher Life Score · grade B- vs this page's MID · ENVIRO-LED · CHEAP/LOW.

Tennessee (cost pole)

ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 74/100 (Δ 2); cost stamp CHEAP vs this state's CHEAP.

Wyoming (cost pole)

ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 70/100 (Δ 2); cost stamp CHEAP vs this state's CHEAP.
State rankings → Compare states →

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