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State Life Score

North Carolina

Below-median composite Life Score — grade C+, 41st percentile of the national corpus.

49.9
Life Score / 100
C+
Grade (curved)
#30
of 51 states
41%
composite percentile

Data updated August 2026

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The verdict

North Carolina is below-median composite Life Score — #30 of 51 (49.9/100, grade C+, 41st percentile). Carried by schools at 70/100; held back most by wages at 30/100.

41st
composite percentile
#30
of 51 peers
59th
cost dimension percentile
29th
wages dimension percentile

Life Score shape · MID · SCHOOL-STRONG

North Carolina at a glance

North Carolina is a MID-band SCHOOL-STRONG state: schools leads at 70/100 while wages drags at 30/100 (MID cost · LOW wages). According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, North Carolina ranks #30 of 51 states by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #21 of 51 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.

Where North Carolina sits among all US states

Composite Life Score vs the 50 states + DC

50 41st percentile higher than 41% 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 North Carolina scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 60/100 (20%)
Wages 30/100 (20%)
Rent 52/100 (15%)
Safety 42/100 (15%)
Schools 70/100 (10%)
Childcare 66/100 (10%)
Environment 42/100 (10%)

Read with North Carolina

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

New Mexico

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

Oregon

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

Pennsylvania

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

Maine

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

Montana (cost pole)

ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 58/100 (Δ 2); cost stamp MID vs this state's MID.

Wisconsin (cost pole)

ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 62/100 (Δ 2); cost stamp MID vs this state's MID.
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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