Amarillo → Dubuque
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Amarillo to Dubuque is strongly favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 91.8 to 87.3 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $29/mo.
- +$1,506
- BLS median salary higher in Dubuque
- 395 to 238
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 14.7:1 to 14.8:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $740
- DOL infant care higher / yr in Dubuque
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
- + 4% lower cost of living
- + Lower violent crime rate
- + Fewer environmental violations
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 91.8 to 87.3 (ratio 0.95), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent barely moves ($1,106 → $1,077); the housing line is not the swing factor on this corridor.
Dubuque leads on 5 of 7 federal dimensions, a destination-heavy ledger. Dubuque sits #33 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Amarillo is #246/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Strongly Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $1,506 higher ($60,424 → $61,930). Labor-market size: 113,150 tracked jobs at origin vs 51,410 at destination.
State retirement friendliness is near-even: Texas 65 (C, #19/51) vs Iowa 70 (B, #8/51). 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
- 100
- Property tax
- 55
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 44
- Income tax
- 85
- Property tax
- 58
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 42
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 Amarillo to see what you'd need to earn in Dubuque 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