The research deals with theoretical and methodological knowledge for assessing the living standards of Russian regions, supplementing the basis of economic laws of the region and its spatial development. The subject is the living standards of the Russian regions based on the interdependent set of nonlinear equations showing the real state and possibilities of its activation. The aim is to conduct a systematic analysis of the living standards of the Russian regions, taking into account the corresponding non-linear equations, determine the group of leaders with active, passive, and negative positions, as well as possibilities of its activation. The research methodology is based on the fundamental principles of the theory and practice of system analysis, economic laws, the results of scientific research in the field of equilibrium and nonequilibrium economic development. As a result of the systematic analysis of the dynamics of socioeconomic indicators of the Russian regions based on the construction of an interdependent set of non-linear equations of the growth rate of the average annual population, the index of physical volume of investments in fixed assets, the industrial production index, the degree of depreciation of fixed assets, the share of unprofitable organizations, changes in the average annual number of employees, regions were identified. It is advisable to use the results in forming the state socioeconomic policy in order to activate the life position of the regions, improve the mechanism for its implementation. The essence of the life position of the Russian regions is considered as a system structure, capable of filling the region's life, adapting to new challenges and forming an adaptive variety of self-reproducing complexes and reproductive processes. The criterion for classifying a region as a specific form of life position is the equilibrium paradigm realized through a combination of nonlinear equations of growth rates of basic socioeconomic indicators.