Appleton → Rockford
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Appleton to Rockford is neutral, depends on priorities: BEA regional price parity goes from 92.4 to 92.2 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $61/mo.
- -$728
- BLS median salary lower in Rockford
- 280 to 277
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 14.4:1 to 14:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $1,001
- DOL infant care higher / yr in Rockford
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
- + $61/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
Cons of Moving
- - More environmental violations
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 92.4 to 92.2 (ratio 1.00), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $61/mo ($732/yr) from $1,236 in Appleton to $1,175 in Rockford.
The seven-dimension ledger splits (4 destination wins · 3 origin wins); priorities decide this move. Rockford sits #126 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Appleton is #46/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Neutral, depends on priorities. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $728 lower ($65,438 → $64,710). Labor-market size: 117,960 tracked jobs at origin vs 131,350 at destination.
State retirement friendliness is near-even: Wisconsin 57 (D, #32/51) vs Illinois 58 (D, #31/51). 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
- 62
- Property tax
- 56
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 40
- Income tax
- 95
- Property tax
- 46
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 46
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 Appleton to see what you'd need to earn in Rockford 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