Metro Life Score

Visalia, CA

Compiled byPlainCompare Editorial, PlainCompare Editorial Team · Updated May 16, 2026

45.2
Life Score / 100: C
Grade (curved): #269
of 387 metros: 30%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

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

The verdict

Visalia ranks #269 of 387 US metros, ahead of 30% - carried by its schools (98/100) and held back most by childcare (2/100).

98
strongest: Schools: 94
then: Environment: 2
weakest: Childcare: 7
weighted dimensions

Where Visalia 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 · May 2026

How the score is built

Reading the Visalia Life Score

Visalia's composite score of 45.2 out of 100, a grade of C, places the metro at rank #269 of 387, ahead of 30% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Schools (98/100) and Environment (94/100), which pull the composite upward, while Childcare (2/100) and Safety (8/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

BEA RPP 99.8 (rent-RPP 84.1). BLS median salary $68,839, 164,460 jobs (Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse, Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Fast Food and Counter Workers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,474/mo (studio $1,116).

FBI UCR (CA): 477 violent, 1986 property/100K. NCES: 21.5:1 ratio, 12.8% charter. DOL infant childcare $17,920/yr. EPA: 116 Superfund sites (CA). Ranks #266-#272 below.

Dimension detail

How Visalia scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 24/100 (20%)

Wages 76/100 (20%)

Rent 32/100 (15%)

Safety 8/100 (15%)

Schools 98/100 (10%)

Childcare 2/100 (10%)

Environment 94/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

99.8

Cost Index (RPP)

$68,839

Avg Median Salary

$1,474

2BR Fair Market Rent

477

Violent Crime/100K (CA)

21.5:1

Student-Teacher Ratio

$17,920

Infant Childcare/yr (CA)

116

Superfund Sites (CA)

164,460

Total Employment

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

Compare Visalia With...

Visalia vs El Centro Compare → Visalia vs Redding Compare → Visalia vs Yuba City Compare → Visalia vs Wildwood Compare → Visalia vs Waterloo Compare → Visalia vs Paducah Compare →

Ranking Context

Visalia outranks 30% of U.S. metros.

Rank	Metro	Score	Grade
#266	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	45.4	C
#267	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	45.4	C
#268	Portland-South Portland, ME	45.5	C
#269	Visalia, CA	45.2	C
#270	Jonesboro, AR	45.1	C
#271	Pittsfield, MA	45.0	C
#272	Springfield, MA	44.8	C

CA Metro Scores

El Centro, CA C+ 46.7 Redding, CA C 43.7 Yuba City, CA C 43.3 Merced, CA C 42.8 Vallejo, CA C 41.9 Stockton-Lodi, CA C- 41.3

Using Visalia's Life Score

Visalia 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 schools (98/100) and its weakest is childcare (2/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
Put Visalia head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
See where Visalia 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 Visalia's biggest strengths? ▼

Visalia's strongest dimensions are Schools (98/100), Environment (94/100), Wages (76/100). Schools is top-tier nationally.

What are Visalia's weakest areas? ▼

Visalia's lowest-scoring dimensions are Childcare (2/100), Safety (8/100), Cost of Living (24/100). Childcare weighs heavily on the composite.

How expensive is Visalia compared to the national average? ▼

Visalia's Regional Price Parity is 99.8 (0.2% less than national); rent RPP 84.1.

What is the average salary in Visalia? ▼

Visalia median salary: $68,839, 164,460 jobs. Top: Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse, Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Fast Food and Counter Workers.

How is the life score calculated? ▼

Visalia's 45.2/100 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.

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

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.