Ames → Staunton-Stuarts Draft

Moving from Ames to Staunton-Stuarts Draft shifts your BEA Regional Price Parity from 88.8 to 91.1 (100 = US average), so a Ames salary needs to be multiplied by 1.03 to hold the same purchasing power in Staunton-Stuarts Draft. On rent, HUD Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom goes from $1,026/month in Ames to $1,261/month in Staunton-Stuarts Draft - a higher monthly bill of $235, or $2,820/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 $63,276 in Staunton-Stuarts Draft - a raw gap of $1,446 lower. The Staunton-Stuarts Draft labor market has 42,170 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 Staunton-Stuarts Draft are 238 and 223 per 100,000 (state-level). NCES student-teacher ratios run 14.8:1 at origin versus 13.9:1 at destination. DOL center-based infant care costs $8,306/year in Ames versus $10,407/year in Staunton-Stuarts Draft. Our composite verdict - Unfavorable - weighs all seven federal sources; the dimension table below lets you override that with your personal priorities.