Internal labour migration is an inherent part of India’s development process. Surat, Gujarat – a rapidly developing industrial city in India – hosts more than hundred thousand inter-state migrant workers each year, mainly from the economically marginal states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, and Odisha. Despite their significant contribution towards economic development in the city of Surat in relation to textiles, diamond polishing, and construction, migrant households have not been adequately researched as a socio-economic group, especially concerning multidimensional quality of life (QoL). The current paper attempts to explore the socio-economic condition and QoL of migrant households in Surat City using primary data collected from 300 migrant households chosen purposefully from six settlements. The research adopts a mixed method approach involving quantitative and qualitative techniques like structured interviews with migrant households supplemented by observations on the field to construct a Composite Quality of Life Index (CQLI) based on six empirically validated dimensions: economic well-being, housing and physical environment, health and nutrition, education access for children, social integration, and subjective well-being. The findings suggest a mean score of 4.52 out of 10 for CQLI, underscoring significant multidimensional deprivation. In multiple regression, monthly household income (β = 0.38, p < 0.001), quality of housing (β = 0.24, p < 0.01), and food security (β = 0.23, p < 0.001) are identified to be key determinants of QoL. This paper brings into focus an important area of research that is yet to receive sufficient attention, i.e., an assessment at the level of settlements in tier-one industrial cities, and suggests focused policy interventions.