Ames → Pueblo
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Ames to Pueblo is unfavorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 88.8 to 91.8 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent rises by $243/mo.
- +$1,361
- BLS median salary higher in Pueblo
- 238 to 481
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 14.8:1 to 16.6:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $4,515
- DOL infant care higher / yr in Pueblo
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.
Cons of Moving
- - $243/mo more expensive rent (2BR)
- - Higher violent crime rate
- - Higher student-teacher ratios
- - More expensive childcare
- - More environmental violations
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 88.8 to 91.8 (ratio 1.03), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent rises $243/mo ($2,916/yr) from $1,026 in Ames to $1,269 in Pueblo.
Ames still leads on 6 of 7 federal dimensions, the origin keeps the edge. Pueblo sits #323 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (bottom third of the corpus). Ames is #15/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Unfavorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $1,361 higher ($64,722 → $66,083). Labor-market size: 48,070 tracked jobs at origin vs 55,270 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors staying put: Iowa scores 70 (B, #8/51) vs Colorado at 46 (F, #44/51). 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
- 85
- Property tax
- 58
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 42
- Income tax
- 80
- Property tax
- 90
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 26
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 Ames to see what you'd need to earn in Pueblo 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