Albany-Schenectady-Troy → Roanoke
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Albany-Schenectady-Troy to Roanoke is strongly favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 99.6 to 93.6 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $448/mo.
- -$8,838
- BLS median salary lower in Roanoke
- 380 to 223
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 11.8:1 to 13.9:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $3,462
- DOL infant care lower / yr in Roanoke
BEA Regional Price Parity, HUD Fair Market Rent, BLS OEWS, FBI UCR, NCES, and DOL. The table below lets you override the composite with your own priorities.
Pros of Moving
- + 6% lower cost of living
- + $448/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + Lower violent crime rate
- + More affordable childcare
- + Fewer environmental violations
Cons of Moving
- - $9K lower median salary
- - Higher student-teacher ratios
Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP falls from 99.6 to 93.6, so each dollar covers more in Roanoke (ratio 0.94). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $448/mo ($5,376/yr) from $1,702 in Albany-Schenectady-Troy to $1,254 in Roanoke.
Roanoke leads on 5 of 7 federal dimensions, a destination-heavy ledger. Roanoke sits #104 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Albany-Schenectady-Troy is #220/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Strongly Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $8,838 lower ($73,812 → $64,974). Labor-market size: 439,210 tracked jobs at origin vs 144,240 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors the destination: Virginia scores 64 (C, #20/51) vs New York at 46 (F, #46/51). Full state tax and healthcare sub-scores sit in the retirement desk below.
State retirement friendliness
Primary-state scores from PlainRelocate's retirement registry (tax + healthcare + climate composite). Metro pairs use each metro's primary state abbreviation.
- Income tax
- 80
- Property tax
- 48
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 96
- Income tax
- 78
- Property tax
- 71
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 62
Full retirement ranking · Source composite documented on methodology (Tax Foundation + AARP tax guides + federal healthcare/climate inputs).
Salary Adjustment Calculator
Enter your current salary in Albany-Schenectady-Troy to see what you'd need to earn in Roanoke to maintain the same purchasing power.
Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA; retirement desk: Tax Foundation + AARP tax guides June 2026