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State Life Score

Wisconsin

Above-median composite Life Score — grade B+, 71st percentile of the national corpus.

55.8
Life Score / 100
B+
Grade (curved)
#15
of 51 states
71%
composite percentile

Data updated August 2026

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The verdict

Wisconsin is above-median composite Life Score — #15 of 51 (55.8/100, grade B+, 71st percentile). Carried by rent at 66/100; held back most by environment at 22/100.

71st
composite percentile
#15
of 51 peers
61st
cost dimension percentile
61st
wages dimension percentile

Life Score shape · UPPER · BALANCED

Wisconsin at a glance

Wisconsin is a UPPER-band BALANCED state: rent leads at 66/100 while environment drags at 22/100 (MID cost · MID wages). According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Wisconsin ranks #15 of 51 states by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #20 of 51 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.

Where Wisconsin sits among all US states

Composite Life Score vs the 50 states + DC

56 71st percentile higher than 71% 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%). Below this entry. 50–55: 12 US states (24%). Below this entry. 55–60: 10 US states (20%). This entry sits in this band. 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 Wisconsin scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 62/100 (20%)
Wages 62/100 (20%)
Rent 66/100 (15%)
Safety 58/100 (15%)
Schools 54/100 (10%)
Childcare 48/100 (10%)
Environment 22/100 (10%)

Read with Wisconsin

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

Ohio

ABS(composite) peer at 55.9 (Δ 0.1 vs this state); higher Life Score · grade B+ vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · MID/MID.

Kansas

ABS(composite) peer at 55.6 (Δ 0.2 vs this state); lower Life Score · grade B vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · MID/MID.

Wyoming

ABS(composite) peer at 56.0 (Δ 0.2 vs this state); higher Life Score · grade B+ vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · MID/MID.

Minnesota

ABS(composite) peer at 56.6 (Δ 0.8 vs this state); higher Life Score · grade B+ vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · MID/MID.

North Carolina (cost pole)

ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 60/100 (Δ 2); cost stamp MID vs this state's MID.

South Carolina (cost pole)

ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 64/100 (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