PlainCompare

Metro Life Score

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade F, 0th percentile of the national corpus.

26.2
Life Score / 100
F
Grade (curved)
#387
of 387 metros
0%
composite percentile
View your shortlist

Data updated August 2026

Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog

The verdict

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #387 of 387 (26.2/100, grade F, 0th percentile). Carried by wages at 99/100; held back most by childcare at 0/100.

0th
composite percentile
#387
of 387 peers
4th
cost dimension percentile
98th
wages dimension percentile

Life Score shape · BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · signature composite

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria: bottom-third composite — where the drag concentrates

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria sits in the bottom third of the metro corpus on composite (#387 of 387, 26.2/100, 0th percentile). Stamps BOTTOM · WAGE-LED; Childcare at 0/100 is the main drag; Wages (99/100) keeps the floor. Cost/wage marks CEILING/PEAK. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV ranks #387 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #373 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.

BEA RPP 108.9 (rent-RPP 151.1). BLS median salary $82,744, 3,082,600 jobs (General and Operations Managers, Business Operations Specialists, All Other, Software Developers). HUD 2BR FMR $2,246/mo (studio $1,953).

FBI UCR (DC): 1015 violent, 3726 property/100K. NCES: 12.3:1 ratio, 51.9% charter. DOL infant childcare $25,480/yr. EPA: 1 Superfund sites (DC).

Where Washington-Arlington-Alexandria sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

26 0th percentile higher than 0% of 387 US metros

25–30: 1 US metros (0%). This entry sits in this band. 30–35: 7 US metros (2%). Above this entry. 35–40: 34 US metros (9%). Above this entry. 40–45: 66 US metros (17%). Above this entry. 45–50: 91 US metros (24%). Above this entry. 50–55: 77 US metros (20%). Above this entry. 55–60: 60 US metros (16%). Above this entry. 60–65: 44 US metros (11%). Above this entry. 65–70: 6 US metros (2%). Above this entry. 70–75: 1 US metros (0%). 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 · August 2026

Dimension detail

How Washington-Arlington-Alexandria scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 4/100 (20%)
Wages 99/100 (20%)
Rent 5/100 (15%)
Safety 0/100 (15%)
Schools 11/100 (10%)
Childcare 0/100 (10%)
Environment 39/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

108.9
Cost Index (RPP)
$82,744
Avg Median Salary
$2,246
2BR Fair Market Rent
1015
Violent Crime/100K (DC)
12.3:1
Student-Teacher Ratio
$25,480
Infant Childcare/yr (DC)
1
Superfund Sites (DC)
3,082,600
Total Employment

Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are DC state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.

Compare Washington-Arlington-Alexandria With...

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria vs Paducah Compare → Washington-Arlington-Alexandria vs Pocatello Compare → Washington-Arlington-Alexandria vs Wildwood Compare →

Ranking Context

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria outranks 0% of U.S. metros.

Rank Metro Score Grade
#384 Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC 30.0 F
#385 Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC 32.8 F
#386 Charleston-North Charleston, SC 33.0 F
#387 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 26.2 F

Read with Washington-Arlington-Alexandria

Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Washington-Arlington-Alexandria (BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.

Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC

ABS(composite) peer at 30.0 (Δ 3.8 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade F vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.

Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC

ABS(composite) peer at 32.8 (Δ 6.6 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade F vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.

Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH

ABS(composite) peer at 33.0 (Δ 6.8 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade F vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.

Charleston-North Charleston, SC

ABS(composite) peer at 33.0 (Δ 6.8 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade F vs this page's BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK.

Salinas, CA (cost pole)

ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 3/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.

Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA (cost pole)

ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 4/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV relocation guide

Stamp-branched guide for BOTTOM · WAGE-LED · CEILING/PEAK - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.

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. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Life Score 26.2/100 · signature composite · retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare

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