Ames → Abilene

Moving from Ames to Abilene shifts your BEA Regional Price Parity from 88.8 to 90.4 (100 = US average), so a Ames salary needs to be multiplied by 1.02 to hold the same purchasing power in Abilene. On rent, HUD Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom goes from $1,026/month in Ames to $1,276/month in Abilene - a higher monthly bill of $250, or $3,000/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 $64,722 in Ames versus $57,653 in Abilene - a raw gap of $7,069 lower. The Abilene labor market has 68,490 tracked jobs against 48,070 in Ames, 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 Ames and Abilene are 238 and 395 per 100,000 (state-level). NCES student-teacher ratios run 14.8:1 at origin versus 14.7:1 at destination. DOL center-based infant care costs $8,306/year in Ames versus $7,566/year in Abilene. Our composite verdict - Unfavorable - weighs all seven federal sources; the dimension table below lets you override that with your personal priorities.