Alexandria → Champaign-Urbana

Moving from Alexandria to Champaign-Urbana shifts your BEA Regional Price Parity from 85.7 to 92.7 (100 = US average), so a Alexandria salary needs to be multiplied by 1.08 to hold the same purchasing power in Champaign-Urbana. On rent, HUD Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom goes from $994/month in Alexandria to $1,122/month in Champaign-Urbana - a higher monthly bill of $128, or $1,536/year. That rent delta alone is often the single biggest line item when relocating.

Wages tell the other half. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics report a median salary of $55,275 in Alexandria versus $66,936 in Champaign-Urbana - a raw gap of $11,661 higher. The Champaign-Urbana labor market has 94,460 tracked jobs against 52,940 in Alexandria, shaping how easy it is to find a comparable role. Combine that with the cost-of-living shift above and you get the real purchasing-power delta, sometimes a "higher salary" is actually a pay cut once rent and RPP are applied.

Safety, schools, and childcare round out the move. FBI UCR violent crime rates near Alexandria and Champaign-Urbana are 410 and 277 per 100,000 (state-level). NCES student-teacher ratios run 16.8:1 at origin versus 14:1 at destination. DOL center-based infant care costs $7,396/year in Alexandria versus $12,257/year in Champaign-Urbana. Our composite verdict - Favorable - weighs all seven federal sources; the dimension table below lets you override that with your personal priorities.