Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos Harrisburg-Carlisle

Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources

Should you move?

Moving from Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos to Harrisburg-Carlisle is strongly favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 98.1 to 98.7 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $359/mo.

-$4,916
BLS median salary lower in Harrisburg-Carlisle
395 to 250
violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
14.7:1 to 13.6:1
NCES student-teacher ratio

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.

Verdict
Strongly Favorable
Cost Index: 98.1 → 98.7
Rent Delta: -$359/mo

Pros of Moving

  • + $359/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
  • + Lower violent crime rate
  • + Better student-teacher ratios
  • + Fewer environmental violations

Cons of Moving

  • - $5K lower median salary

Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 98.1 to 98.7 (ratio 1.01), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $359/mo ($4,308/yr) from $1,852 in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos to $1,493 in Harrisburg-Carlisle.

The seven-dimension ledger splits (4 destination wins · 2 origin wins); priorities decide this move. Harrisburg-Carlisle sits #270 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (bottom third of the corpus). Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos is #321/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Strongly Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.

BLS OEWS median salary moves $4,916 lower ($71,789 → $66,873). Labor-market size: 1,265,270 tracked jobs at origin vs 327,450 at destination.

State retirement friendliness is near-even: Texas 65 (C, #19/51) vs Pennsylvania 65 (C, #18/51). Full state tax and healthcare sub-scores sit in the retirement desk below.

Dimension
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos
Harrisburg-Carlisle
Winner
Cost of Living
RPP 98.1
RPP 98.7
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos
Rent (2BR)
$1,852/mo
$1,493/mo
Harrisburg-Carlisle
Wages
$71,789
$66,873
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos
Crime
395 per 100K
250 per 100K
Harrisburg-Carlisle
Schools
14.7:1
13.6:1
Harrisburg-Carlisle
Childcare
$7,566/yr
N/A
Tie
Environment
35693 violations
5292 violations
Harrisburg-Carlisle

State retirement friendliness

Primary-state scores from PlainRelocate's retirement registry (tax + healthcare + climate composite). Metro pairs use each metro's primary state abbreviation.

Origin state · Texas
65 C #19/51
Income tax
100
Property tax
55
Estate tax
100
Healthcare
44
Destination state · Pennsylvania
65 C #18/51
Income tax
95
Property tax
58
Estate tax
100
Healthcare
72

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 Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos to see what you'd need to earn in Harrisburg-Carlisle to maintain the same purchasing power.

Equivalent salary in Harrisburg-Carlisle
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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