How Lifebex Works

Official government dataAlways freeNo signup required

Why Lifebex Exists

The Problem

Most people don't know where they stand financially. You might earn $75,000 and wonder: "Am I doing well? Can I afford to live in this city? When can I retire?" Traditional financial advice is generic and doesn't account for your specific location, income, and life situation.

Our Mission

Lifebex gives you a clear, data-driven picture of your financial reality. We combine income rankings, cost of living analysis, and personalized financial metrics to show you exactly where you stand—and how to improve.

What Makes Us Different

  • Real government data from IRS, Census Bureau, and Bureau of Labor Statistics
  • Location-specific analysis for 500+ US cities
  • Personalized Financial DNA score with 6 key metrics
  • Completely free, no signup required

How Lifebex Analyzes Your Financial Health

Step 1: Income Ranking

We compare your household income to others in your city, state, and nationally using the latest IRS and Census data. This shows you where you truly stand among your peers.

Data Sources:

  • • Latest IRS tax return data
  • • Latest American Community Survey
  • • Adjusted for current inflation

Step 2: Cost of Living

We calculate your actual living costs based on your location and household size using Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

What We Include:

  • • Housing (rent/mortgage)
  • • Food & groceries
  • • Transportation
  • • Healthcare
  • • Personal care
  • • Education

Step 3: Financial DNA

We analyze 6 key metrics to give you a complete financial picture and an overall score from 0-100.

6 Key Metrics:

  • • Income Power 💪
  • • Cost Efficiency 📊
  • • Savings Velocity 🚀
  • • Peer Dominance 👑
  • • Spending Power 💎
  • • Freedom Score 🎯

Your Financial DNA Metrics

Six powerful metrics that reveal your complete financial picture

Income Power

💪

How your income compares to others in your area

Calculation:

Average of city, state, and national percentiles

What it means:

Higher score = You earn more than your peers

Cost Efficiency

📊

How much of your income goes to living costs

Calculation:

Living costs as percentage of after-tax income

What it means:

Lower costs = More efficient spending

Savings Velocity

🚀

How quickly you can build wealth

Calculation:

Savings potential divided by after-tax income

What it means:

Higher score = Faster wealth building

Peer Dominance

👑

How you compare to your age group nationally

Calculation:

Income percentile within your age bracket

What it means:

Higher score = Outperforming your generation

Spending Power

💎

Your discretionary income after essentials

Calculation:

After-tax income minus basic living costs

What it means:

Higher score = More financial freedom

Freedom Score

🎯

Years until financial independence (FIRE)

Calculation:

Based on 25x annual expenses rule

What it means:

Higher score = Closer to financial freedom

Your Overall Score

We combine these 6 metrics into a single score (0-100) and give you one of four ratings

Foundation

0-30

Focus on fundamentals for financial growth

Developing

31-60

Building financial strength with key areas to improve

Balanced

61-80

Good foundation with growth opportunities

Thriving

81-100

Excellent financial health

Our Data Sources

We use only official government data to ensure accuracy and reliability

IRS Tax Return Data

Internal Revenue Service Statistics of Income

Coverage: 126,000+ records across 14,000+ cities

Includes: Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) by income bracket

Updated: Latest available data from IRS

American Community Survey

U.S. Census Bureau

Coverage: 500,000+ records across 31,000+ cities

Includes: Household income distributions

Updated: Latest available data from Census Bureau

Consumer Expenditure Survey

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Coverage: National baseline spending by category

Includes: All major expense categories

Updated: Latest available data from BLS

Consumer Price Index

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Coverage: 28 major metro areas + 4 regional averages

Includes: Price indices for 6 expense categories

Updated: Latest available monthly data from BLS

Data Quality & Accuracy

Special Note on CPI Base Years: Some cities use different CPI base years. We convert all data to the standard 1982-84=100 base for accurate comparisons:

  • • Phoenix, AZ: Converted from December 2001 base
  • • Tampa, FL: Converted from 1987 base
  • • Riverside, CA: Converted from December 2017 base

Tax Calculations

We estimate federal and state income taxes using current tax brackets, state-specific rates, standard deductions, and FICA (Social Security & Medicare). Tax estimates are approximate. Consult a tax professional for precise calculations.

Privacy & Security

  • No personal data stored: We don't save your income or personal information
  • No signup required: Completely anonymous analysis
  • No tracking: We don't sell your data to third parties