PlainCompare

Metro Life Score

Traverse City, MI

55.2
Life Score / 100
B
Grade (curved)
#118
of 387 metros
70%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census

The verdict

Traverse City ranks #118 of 387 US metros, ahead of 70% - carried by its environment (90/100) and held back most by safety (17/100).

90
strongest: Environment
80
then: Schools
17
weakest: Safety
7
weighted dimensions

Where Traverse City sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

55 70th percentile higher than 70% of 387 US metros

25–30: 1 US metros (0%). Below this entry. 30–35: 16 US metros (4%). Below this entry. 35–40: 46 US metros (12%). Below this entry. 40–45: 53 US metros (14%). Below this entry. 45–50: 81 US metros (21%). Below this entry. 50–55: 67 US metros (17%). Below this entry. 55–60: 68 US metros (18%). This entry sits in this band. 60–65: 40 US metros (10%). Above this entry. 65–70: 12 US metros (3%). Above this entry. 70–75: 3 US metros (1%). Above this entry. This metro 25 75 every US metro, bucketed by value

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 · May 2026

How the score is built

Reading the Traverse City Life Score

Traverse City's composite score of 55.2 out of 100, a grade of B, places the metro at rank #118 of 387, ahead of 70% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Environment (90/100) and Schools (80/100), which pull the composite upward, while Safety (17/100) and Wages (42/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

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: 17.5:1 ratio, 10.9% charter. DOL infant childcare $7,444/yr. EPA: 90 Superfund sites (MI). Ranks #115-#121 below.

Dimension detail

How Traverse City scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 51/100 (20%)
Wages 42/100 (20%)
Rent 61/100 (15%)
Safety 17/100 (15%)
Schools 80/100 (10%)
Childcare 79/100 (10%)
Environment 90/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

93.4
Cost Index (RPP)
$61,419
Avg Median Salary
$1,224
2BR Fair Market Rent
431
Violent Crime/100K (MI)
17.5:1
Student-Teacher Ratio
$7,444
Infant Childcare/yr (MI)
90
Superfund Sites (MI)
62,130
Total Employment

Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level where metro-specific data is unavailable.

Compare Traverse City With...

Traverse City vs Midland Compare → Traverse City vs Saginaw Compare → Traverse City vs Niles Compare → Traverse City vs Wildwood Compare → Traverse City vs Waterloo Compare → Traverse City vs Paducah Compare →

Ranking Context

Traverse City outranks 70% of U.S. metros.

Rank Metro Score Grade
#115 Lansing-East Lansing, MI 55.4 B+
#116 St. Joseph, MO-KS 55.5 B+
#117 Rome, GA 55.5 B+
#118 Traverse City, MI 55.2 B
#119 Manhattan, KS 55.2 B+
#120 South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI 55.2 B
#121 Champaign-Urbana, IL 55.1 B

MI Metro Scores

Midland, MI A 62.6 Saginaw, MI A- 59.9 Niles, MI B+ 56.5 Jackson, MI B+ 56.2 Flint, MI B+ 56.1 Kalamazoo-Portage, MI B+ 55.6

Using Traverse City's Life Score

Traverse City is a regional baseline, not a neighborhood reading, use it to shortlist, then dig into the dimensions that matter to you.

  • Its strongest dimension is environment (90/100) and its weakest is safety (17/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
  • Put Traverse City head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
  • See where Traverse City lands on the national rankings for cost, safety, pay and more. Browse rankings

Scores summarize federal data at the metro level; crime, schools and cost vary widely within a single metro.

Explore more

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Traverse City's biggest strengths? ▼
Traverse City's strongest dimensions are Environment (90/100), Schools (80/100), Childcare (79/100). Environment is top-tier nationally.
What are Traverse City's weakest areas? ▼
Traverse City's lowest-scoring dimensions are Safety (17/100), Wages (42/100), Cost of Living (51/100). Safety weighs heavily on the composite.
How expensive is Traverse City compared to the national average? ▼
Traverse City's Regional Price Parity is 93.4 (6.6% less than national); rent RPP 78.1.
What is the average salary in Traverse City? ▼
Traverse City median salary: $61,419, 62,130 jobs. Top: Retail Salespersons, Registered Nurses, Cashiers.
How is the life score calculated? ▼
Traverse City's 55.2/100 blends 7 federal-data dimensions - see our methodology page for the weighting.

Research Guides

Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, and EPA. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.

Related

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, and EPA. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

All federal data sources used on this page
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - multi-dimension demographic + housing + income aggregates for cross-area comparison. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • BEA Regional Economic Accounts - GDP, personal income, employment by state and metro. bea.gov/data/regional
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) - wage estimates for comparable-area indexing. bls.gov/oes
  • FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) - crime statistics for safety-score component. fbi.gov/ucr
  • NCES Common Core of Data - public-school quality indicators by area. nces.ed.gov/ccd
  • EPA AirNow + Air Quality System (AQS) - air-quality measurements by area. epa.gov/outdoor-air-quality-data
  • HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR) - county and metro housing-cost indicators. huduser.gov/datasets/fmr

Every figure on PlainCompare is loaded directly from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OEWS, NCES, DOL, EPA, and the Census Bureau, no number is typed in by an editor. This metro's Life Score is computed directly from the 7 federal sources cited above. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026.