Metro Life Score
Waco, TX
Top-quartile composite Life Score — grade B+, 79th percentile of the national corpus.
- 57.1
- Life Score / 100
- B+
- Grade (curved)
- #83
- of 387 metros
- 79%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Waco is top-quartile composite Life Score — #83 of 387 (57.1/100, grade B+, 79th percentile). Carried by rent at 95/100; held back most by wages at 28/100.
- 79th
- composite percentile
- #83
- of 387 peers
- 59th
- cost dimension percentile
- 28th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · UPPER · BALANCED · signature composite
Waco: top-third composite Life Score
Waco clears the top third of US metros on composite Life Score (#83 of 387, 57.1/100, grade B+, 78th percentile). Stamps UPPER · BALANCED; cost MID (59th) · wages LOW (28th). Rent at 95/100 carries the lead; Wages (28/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Waco, TX ranks #83 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #159 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 92.5 (rent-RPP 83.5). BLS median salary $60,744, 117,690 jobs (Fast Food and Counter Workers, General and Operations Managers, Stockers and Order Fillers). HUD 2BR FMR $973/mo (studio $671).
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 Waco sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
57 Top 21% higher than 79% 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 57.1 is built
Waco's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Waco 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 Waco With...
Ranking Context
Waco outranks 79% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #80 | College Station-Bryan, TX | 57.4 | B+ |
| #81 | Coeur d'Alene, ID | 57.5 | B+ |
| #82 | Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA | 57.6 | B+ |
| #83 | Waco, TX | 57.1 | B+ |
| #84 | Youngstown-Warren, OH | 57.1 | B+ |
| #85 | Oklahoma City, OK | 57.0 | B+ |
| #86 | Lynchburg, VA | 56.9 | B+ |
Quality vs. Affordability
Waco, TX is top 21% highest-quality nationally but only top 41% most affordable among its composite-quality peers -- its Life Score is earned mostly outside the cost dimension, not through being a budget option.
TX Metro Scores
Read with Waco
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Waco (UPPER · BALANCED · MID/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Youngstown-Warren, OH
ABS(composite) peer at 57.1 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B+ vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · MID/LOW.
Oklahoma City, OK
ABS(composite) peer at 57.0 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade B+ vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · MID/LOW.
Lynchburg, VA
ABS(composite) peer at 56.9 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade B+ vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · MID/LOW.
College Station-Bryan, TX
ABS(composite) peer at 57.4 (Δ 0.3 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B+ vs this page's UPPER · BALANCED · MID/LOW.
Kansas City, MO-KS (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 59/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp MID vs this metro's MID.
Knoxville, TN (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 59/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp MID vs this metro's MID.
Waco, TX relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for UPPER · BALANCED · MID/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Waco's top-third Life Score
Waco scores 57.1/100 overall, but Rent (94.6) and Wages (27.7) sit 66.8 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Rent is the strongest of Waco's seven dimensions (weighted 15% 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 high composite is a weighted blend; it does not mean every dimension is strong.