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State Life Score

Washington

Below-median composite Life Score — grade C+, 35th percentile of the national corpus.

47.7
Life Score / 100
C+
Grade (curved)
#33
of 51 states
35%
composite percentile

Data updated August 2026

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The verdict

Washington is below-median composite Life Score — #33 of 51 (47.7/100, grade C+, 35th percentile). Carried by wages at 98/100; held back most by childcare at 9/100.

35th
composite percentile
#33
of 51 peers
10th
cost dimension percentile
96th
wages dimension percentile

Life Score shape · MID · WAGE-LED

Washington at a glance

Washington is a MID-band WAGE-LED state: wages leads at 98/100 while childcare drags at 9/100 (CEILING cost · PEAK wages). According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Washington ranks #33 of 51 states by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #46 of 51 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.

Where Washington sits among all US states

Composite Life Score vs the 50 states + DC

48 35th percentile higher than 35% 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 Washington scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 10/100 (20%)
Wages 98/100 (20%)
Rent 26/100 (15%)
Safety 46/100 (15%)
Schools 88/100 (10%)
Childcare 9/100 (10%)
Environment 56/100 (10%)

Read with Washington

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

Nevada

ABS(composite) peer at 47.0 (Δ 0.7 vs this state); lower Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.

Arizona

ABS(composite) peer at 48.9 (Δ 1.2 vs this state); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.

Oregon

ABS(composite) peer at 49.2 (Δ 1.5 vs this state); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.

Colorado

ABS(composite) peer at 45.8 (Δ 1.9 vs this state); lower Life Score · grade C vs this page's MID · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.

Massachusetts (cost pole)

ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 12/100 (Δ 2); cost stamp CEILING vs this state's CEILING.

New York (cost pole)

ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 8/100 (Δ 2); cost stamp CEILING vs this state's CEILING.
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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