About PlainRelocate

Our Mission

We believe relocating should be one of the most data-informed decisions you make, not one of the most stressful. PlainRelocate exists because most relocation advice is either anecdotal ("I love living here"), commercially motivated (real estate marketing), or based on opaque "best of" rankings whose methodology is hidden.

Our mission is to put objective, verifiable government data directly in your hands. We combine data from nine federal agencies into a single comparison platform that lets you evaluate any U.S. metro area across the dimensions that matter most: cost of living, wages, rent, crime, school quality, childcare costs, air quality, climate, and natural-hazard risk.

PlainRelocate is free, ad-supported, and has no affiliation with real estate companies, moving services, or any city's chamber of commerce. Our relocation intelligence is built only from official data, the data speaks for itself.

Our Data Sources

Every data point on PlainRelocate traces back to an official U.S. government source. We use nine distinct federal datasets, each providing a different dimension of metro-area livability:

Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) - Regional Price Parities (RPPs) measure relative cost of living across metro areas, with the national average set at 100. A metro with an RPP of 90 is 10% cheaper than average.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) - Fair Market Rents (FMRs) represent the 40th percentile rent for standard-quality units, by metro and bedroom count.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) - Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) provide median and percentile wages for 800+ occupations at the metro level.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) - Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) data includes violent crime and property crime rates per 100,000 residents at the metropolitan statistical area level.
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) - Common Core of Data (CCD) covers public school enrollment, student-teacher ratios, Title I status, and charter school presence.
Department of Labor (DOL) - National Database of Childcare Prices provides median childcare costs for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers by metro area.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - Air Quality System (AQS) annual median Air Quality Index by metro, used for the air-quality dimension.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - Climate Normals (1991–2020) and Storm Events, used for the climate-comfort and severe-weather inputs.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) - Disaster Declarations, combined with NOAA storm data for the natural-hazard dimension.

How We Process the Data

Our data pipeline begins by downloading raw datasets from each of the nine federal agencies listed above. These datasets arrive in different formats, CSV files, API endpoints, fixed-width text, and use different geographic identifiers. The first step is harmonizing all nine sources at the metropolitan statistical area (MSA) level.

An MSA is the Census Bureau's definition of a functional economic region built around an urban core of 50,000+ population plus surrounding counties with strong commuting ties. MSAs capture where people actually live, work, and commute, not just political city boundaries. This is why PlainRelocate compares "Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington" rather than "Dallas" alone.

Each metro receives a percentile score from 0 to 100 on every dimension, calculated from its rank within the full dataset. Higher percentiles are always better, for crime, this means lower crime rates earn higher percentile scores. These per-dimension percentile scores are then combined using adjustable weights to produce a composite "life score."

The headline LiveAbility Score weights cost 18%, jobs 15%, housing 15%, safety 12%, schools 12%, air 10%, hazard 10%, and climate 8%; the family-oriented Life Score uses cost 20%, wages 20%, rent 15%, crime 15%, schools 10%, childcare 10%, environment 10%. Full weight tables and the reason jobs are weighted at 15% are on the methodology page. Every household's priorities differ, which is why the City Finder lets you adjust weights to match what matters most to you.

The comparison engine performs real-time salary adjustments using BEA Regional Price Parities, calculates net financial impact of relocating between any two metros, and highlights the strongest advantages and trade-offs. All underlying data points are traceable to their federal source.

Data Currency

Government datasets are not real-time. Each federal agency operates on its own collection and publication cycle, creating an inherent lag between conditions on the ground and the data available for analysis. Understanding the vintage of each source is critical for interpreting PlainRelocate's comparisons accurately, especially in rapidly changing markets.

Here is the current vintage of each dataset used on PlainRelocate:

BEA Regional Price Parities: 2022 release (published December 2023). Updated annually; we refresh within 30 days of each new release.
HUD Fair Market Rents: FY2025 (published September 2024). Updated annually each October for the following fiscal year.
BLS OEWS Wages: May 2023 estimates (published April 2024). Updated annually with approximately a 12-month lag.
FBI UCR Crime: 2022 data (released October 2023). Crime data has the longest publication lag, typically 10-18 months.
NCES CCD Education: 2022-23 school year (published August 2024). Updated annually with a 12-month lag.
DOL Childcare Prices: 2023 estimates (published 2024). Updated as new surveys are completed.
EPA AQS (air quality): Annual median AQI from the most recent complete monitoring year.
NOAA Climate Normals: 1991–2020 reference period (the current standard 30-year normals).
FEMA Disaster Declarations: Cumulative federally declared disasters, refreshed as new declarations are issued.

We monitor each source for new releases and update PlainRelocate's database within 30 days of publication. The "data as of" date on each metro page reflects the specific vintage in use.

Editorial Independence & How Content Is Produced

PlainRelocate is a data-first publication. Raw data from the BEA, BLS, FBI, HUD, NCES, DOL, EPA, NOAA, FEMA, and the U.S. Census Bureau is transformed into readable metro profiles programmatically, the numbers are loaded directly from each source and are not hand-edited. The PlainRelocate team, is responsible for the methodology, the explanatory writing, and corrections.

We do not accept payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement from landlords, cities, governments, or any covered entity. Our only revenue source is contextual display advertising served by Google AdSense, advertisers do not influence which entities we cover or how we present data, and they do not receive preferential placement.

Limitations and Disclaimers

Transparency about what data can and cannot do is central to our mission. Government data is the most objective source available for metro comparisons, but it has real limitations that you should understand before basing a major life decision on it. We present these limitations not as caveats but as essential context for responsible data use.

Key limitations to keep in mind:

Geographic granularity: Most data is available at the MSA level only. Conditions can vary significantly within a metro, suburban neighborhoods may differ from urban cores on crime, school quality, and costs.
Publication lag: Federal data typically lags current conditions by 12-24 months. Rapid changes in housing costs or employment may not yet be reflected.
Crime reporting gaps: FBI UCR data depends on voluntary agency reporting. Some agencies do not report, and the transition from UCR to NIBRS has created inconsistencies in some jurisdictions.
Rent vs. market reality: HUD Fair Market Rents reflect the 40th percentile of existing rental units, which may differ from current market-rate listings, especially in rapidly appreciating markets.
Qualitative factors: Data cannot capture everything that matters, cultural fit, proximity to family, climate preference, career networks, community character. Use data to narrow the field, then visit in person.

PlainRelocate is for informational purposes only. Data comes from U.S. government sources and is presented as-is. While we strive for accuracy, we cannot guarantee completeness. Always verify important information with official sources before making a major life decision. This tool provides a starting point for research, not financial, legal, or professional advice.

Contact

Questions, corrections, or data discrepancies? Email hello@plainrelocate.com. We read every message and investigate data issues within 48 hours.

If you spot a data point that seems wrong, please include the metro name, the specific metric, and if possible the source you're comparing against. Government data sources occasionally contain errors or revisions, and community feedback helps us maintain accuracy across 387 metro areas.

PlainRelocate is an independent publisher, a data intelligence company building free, public-interest data portals from official government datasets. We believe public data should be accessible to everyone, not locked behind paywalls or buried in spreadsheets. Primary federal sources for PlainRelocate include the BEA Regional Price Parities, the HUD Fair Market Rents dataset, the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, and Census Bureau QuickFacts.