Metro Life Score
Traverse City, MI
Below-median composite Life Score — grade C, 30th percentile of the national corpus.
- 45.4
- Life Score / 100
- C
- Grade (curved)
- #269
- of 387 metros
- 30%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Traverse City is below-median composite Life Score — #269 of 387 (45.4/100, grade C, 30th percentile). Carried by childcare at 79/100; held back most by environment at 12/100.
- 30th
- composite percentile
- #269
- of 387 peers
- 51st
- cost dimension percentile
- 32nd
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · BALANCED · signature composite
Traverse City: bottom-third composite — where the drag concentrates
Traverse City sits in the bottom third of the metro corpus on composite (#269 of 387, 45.4/100, 30th percentile). Stamps LOWER · BALANCED; Environment at 12/100 is the main drag; Childcare (79/100) keeps the floor. Cost/wage marks MID/LOW. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Traverse City, MI ranks #269 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #189 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 93.4 (rent-RPP 78.1). BLS median salary $61,419, 62,130 jobs (Retail Salespersons, Registered Nurses, Cashiers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,224/mo (studio $904).
FBI UCR (MI): 431 violent, 1395 property/100K. NCES: 16.7:1 ratio, 10.9% charter. DOL infant childcare $7,444/yr. EPA: 90 Superfund sites (MI).
Where Traverse City sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
45 30th percentile higher than 30% of 387 US metros
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. 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 · August 2026
How the 45.4 is built
Traverse City's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Traverse City scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are MI state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Traverse City With...
Ranking Context
Traverse City outranks 30% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #266 | Memphis, TN-MS-AR | 45.5 | C |
| #267 | Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI | 45.5 | C+ |
| #268 | Spartanburg, SC | 45.7 | C+ |
| #269 | Traverse City, MI | 45.4 | C |
| #270 | Albany, OR | 45.4 | C |
| #271 | Eugene-Springfield, OR | 45.4 | C |
| #272 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 45.4 | C |
Quality vs. Affordability
Traverse City, MI is bottom 31% lowest-quality nationally and also top 49% most affordable -- a rarer combination among its composite-quality peers, where overall rank and affordability rank usually diverge more than this.
MI Metro Scores
Read with Traverse City
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Traverse City (LOWER · BALANCED · MID/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Albany, OR
ABS(composite) peer at 45.4 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · BALANCED · MID/LOW.
Eugene-Springfield, OR
ABS(composite) peer at 45.4 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · BALANCED · MID/LOW.
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
ABS(composite) peer at 45.4 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · BALANCED · MID/LOW.
Raleigh-Cary, NC
ABS(composite) peer at 45.4 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · BALANCED · MID/LOW.
Akron, OH (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 52/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp MID vs this metro's MID.
Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 51/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp MID vs this metro's MID.
Traverse City, MI relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · BALANCED · MID/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Traverse City's bottom-third Life Score
Traverse City scores 45.4/100 overall, but Childcare (79.1) and Environment (12.4) sit 66.7 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Childcare is the strongest of Traverse City's seven dimensions (weighted 10% in the composite); if it is your priority, this is where the metro earns its rank. See all seven dimensions
- Environment is the weakest (weighted 10% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Battle Creek is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Battle Creek
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.