Bend → Sumter

Moving from Bend to Sumter shifts your BEA Regional Price Parity from 103.6 to 88.0 (100 = US average), so a Bend salary needs to be multiplied by 0.85 to hold the same purchasing power in Sumter. On rent, HUD Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom goes from $1,385/month in Bend to $1,276/month in Sumter - a lower monthly bill of $109, or $1,308/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 $69,802 in Bend versus $56,027 in Sumter - a raw gap of $13,775 lower. The Sumter labor market has 28,110 tracked jobs against 102,030 in Bend, 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 Bend and Sumter are 335 and 439 per 100,000 (state-level). NCES student-teacher ratios run 17.6:1 at origin versus 14.3:1 at destination. DOL center-based infant care costs $12,639/year in Bend versus $7,732/year in Sumter. Our composite verdict - Strongly Favorable - weighs all seven federal sources; the dimension table below lets you override that with your personal priorities.