Metro Life Score

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

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

46.1
Life Score / 100: C+
Grade (curved): #253
of 387 metros: 35%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

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

The verdict

Washington ranks #253 of 387 US metros, ahead of 35% - carried by its wages (99/100) and held back most by childcare (0/100).

99
strongest: Wages: 98
then: Safety: 0
weakest: Childcare: 7
weighted dimensions

Where Washington sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

46 35th percentile higher than 35% 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 Washington Life Score

Washington's composite score of 46.1 out of 100, a grade of C+, places the metro at rank #253 of 387, ahead of 35% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Wages (99/100) and Safety (98/100), which pull the composite upward, while Childcare (0/100) and Cost of Living (4/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

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). Ranks #250-#256 below.

Dimension detail

How Washington scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 4/100 (20%)

Wages 99/100 (20%)

Rent 5/100 (15%)

Safety 98/100 (15%)

Schools 6/100 (10%)

Childcare 0/100 (10%)

Environment 95/100 (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)

Superfund Sites (DC)

3,082,600

Total Employment

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

Compare Washington With...

Washington vs Wildwood Compare → Washington vs Waterloo Compare → Washington vs Paducah Compare →

Ranking Context

Washington outranks 35% of U.S. metros.

Rank	Metro	Score	Grade
#250	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	46.4	C+
#251	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	46.4	C+
#252	Jefferson City, MO	46.5	C+
#253	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	46.1	C+
#254	Salisbury, MD	46.1	C+
#255	Kenosha, WI	46.0	C+
#256	Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT	46.0	C+

Using Washington's Life Score

Washington 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 wages (99/100) and its weakest is childcare (0/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
Put Washington head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
See where Washington 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 Washington's biggest strengths? ▼

Washington's strongest dimensions are Wages (99/100), Safety (98/100), Environment (95/100). Wages is top-tier nationally.

What are Washington's weakest areas? ▼

Washington's lowest-scoring dimensions are Childcare (0/100), Cost of Living (4/100), Rent (5/100). Childcare weighs heavily on the composite.

How expensive is Washington compared to the national average? ▼

Washington's Regional Price Parity is 108.9 (8.9% more than national); rent RPP 151.1.

What is the average salary in Washington? ▼

Washington median salary: $82,744, 3,082,600 jobs. Top: General and Operations Managers, Business Operations Specialists, All Other, Software Developers.

How is the life score calculated? ▼

Washington's 46.1/100 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.