Metro Life Score
Victoria, TX
Below-median composite Life Score — grade C+, 43rd percentile of the national corpus.
- 48.0
- Life Score / 100
- C+
- Grade (curved)
- #222
- of 387 metros
- 43%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Victoria is below-median composite Life Score — #222 of 387 (48.0/100, grade C+, 43rd percentile). Carried by environment at 89/100; held back most by wages at 10/100.
- 43rd
- composite percentile
- #222
- of 387 peers
- 75th
- cost dimension percentile
- 10th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · MID · ENVIRO-LED · signature wages
Victoria: wage lag defines the peer set
Victoria is a MID-band metro where wages sit at only the 10th percentile (LOW) while cost is CHEAP (75th) and composite #222. Wages at 10/100 is the clearest drag; Environment (89/100) is the offset. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Victoria, TX ranks #222 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #95 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 89.8 (rent-RPP 69.3). BLS median salary $57,319, 32,970 jobs (Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons, General and Operations Managers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,442/mo (studio $1,146).
FBI UCR (TX): 395 violent, 2058 property/100K. NCES: 14.4:1 ratio, 11.1% charter. DOL infant childcare $7,566/yr. EPA: 70 Superfund sites (TX).
Where Victoria sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
48 43rd percentile higher than 43% 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 48.0 is built
Victoria's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Victoria scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are TX state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Victoria With...
Ranking Context
Victoria outranks 43% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #219 | Portland-South Portland, ME | 48.1 | C+ |
| #220 | Niles, MI | 48.1 | C+ |
| #221 | Jacksonville, NC | 48.1 | C+ |
| #222 | Victoria, TX | 48.0 | C+ |
| #223 | Chambersburg, PA | 48.0 | C+ |
| #224 | Walla Walla, WA | 48.0 | C+ |
| #225 | Tyler, TX | 47.9 | C+ |
Quality vs. Affordability
Victoria, TX is bottom 43% lowest-quality nationally and also top 25% most affordable -- a rarer combination among its composite-quality peers, where overall rank and affordability rank usually diverge more than this.
TX Metro Scores
Read with Victoria
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Victoria (MID · ENVIRO-LED · CHEAP/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Chambersburg, PA
ABS(composite) peer at 48.0 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · ENVIRO-LED · CHEAP/LOW.
Walla Walla, WA
ABS(composite) peer at 48.0 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · ENVIRO-LED · CHEAP/LOW.
Jacksonville, NC
ABS(composite) peer at 48.1 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · ENVIRO-LED · CHEAP/LOW.
Niles, MI
ABS(composite) peer at 48.1 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · ENVIRO-LED · CHEAP/LOW.
Dalton, GA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 75/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CHEAP vs this metro's CHEAP.
Montgomery, AL (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 76/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CHEAP vs this metro's CHEAP.
Victoria, TX relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for MID · ENVIRO-LED · CHEAP/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Victoria's middle-third Life Score
Victoria scores 48.0/100 overall, but Environment (89.4) and Wages (10.1) sit 79.3 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Environment is the strongest of Victoria'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
- Wages is the weakest (weighted 20% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Beaumont is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Beaumont
A middle-third composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can sit well above or below it.