Metro Life Score
Wildwood-The Villages, FL
Top-1% composite Life Score — grade A+, 99th percentile of the national corpus.
- 67.0
- Life Score / 100
- A+
- Grade (curved)
- #3
- of 387 metros
- 99%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
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The verdict
Wildwood-The Villages is top-1% composite Life Score — #3 of 387 (67.0/100, grade A+, 99th percentile). Carried by cost of living at 98/100; held back most by environment at 39/100.
- 99th
- composite percentile
- #3
- of 387 peers
- 97th
- cost dimension percentile
- 47th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · TOP · COST-LED · signature composite
Wildwood-The Villages: top-third composite Life Score
Wildwood-The Villages clears the top third of US metros on composite Life Score (#3 of 387, 67.0/100, grade A+, 99th percentile). Stamps TOP · COST-LED; cost FLOOR (97th) · wages MID (47th). Cost of Living at 98/100 carries the lead; Environment (39/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Wildwood-The Villages, FL ranks #3 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #10 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 85.4 (rent-RPP 51.7). BLS median salary $63,776, 34,870 jobs (Retail Salespersons, Waiters and Waitresses, Cashiers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,328/mo (studio $1,076).
FBI UCR (FL): 210 violent, 1030 property/100K. NCES: 17.8:1 ratio, 18.0% charter. DOL infant childcare $10,505/yr. EPA: 81 Superfund sites (FL).
Where Wildwood-The Villages sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
67 Top 1% higher than 99% 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 67.0 is built
Wildwood-The Villages's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Wildwood-The Villages scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are FL state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Wildwood-The Villages With...
Ranking Context
Wildwood-The Villages outranks 99% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Pocatello, ID | 67.9 | A+ |
| #2 | Paducah, KY-IL | 72.8 | A+ |
| #3 | Wildwood-The Villages, FL | 67.0 | A+ |
| #4 | Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH | 66.0 | A+ |
| #5 | St. Cloud, MN | 65.9 | A+ |
| #6 | Ames, IA | 65.6 | A+ |
Quality vs. Affordability
Wildwood-The Villages, FL's quality rank (top 1% highest-quality) and affordability rank (top 3% most affordable) sit close together -- an unusually proportionate metro where overall quality and cost-of-living move together.
FL Metro Scores
Read with Wildwood-The Villages
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Wildwood-The Villages (TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/MID), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Pocatello, ID
ABS(composite) peer at 67.9 (Δ 0.9 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade A+ vs this page's TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/MID.
Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH
ABS(composite) peer at 66.0 (Δ 1.0 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A+ vs this page's TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/MID.
St. Cloud, MN
ABS(composite) peer at 65.9 (Δ 1.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A+ vs this page's TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/MID.
Ames, IA
ABS(composite) peer at 65.6 (Δ 1.4 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A+ vs this page's TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/MID.
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 98/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Jackson, TN (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 97/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Wildwood-The Villages, FL relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for TOP · COST-LED · FLOOR/MID - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Wildwood-The Villages's top-third Life Score
Wildwood-The Villages scores 67.0/100 overall, but Cost of Living (97.7) and Environment (39.1) sit 58.5 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Cost of Living is the strongest of Wildwood-The Villages's seven dimensions (weighted 20% in the composite); if it is your priority, this is where the metro earns its rank. See all seven dimensions
- Environment is the weakest (weighted 10% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Jacksonville is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Jacksonville
A high composite is a weighted blend; it does not mean every dimension is strong.