Billings → Lima

Moving from Billings to Lima shifts your BEA Regional Price Parity from 93.5 to 89.7 (100 = US average), so a Billings salary needs to be multiplied by 0.96 to hold the same purchasing power in Lima. On rent, HUD Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom goes from $1,417/month in Billings to $1,108/month in Lima - a lower monthly bill of $309, or $3,708/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 $64,222 in Billings versus $61,326 in Lima - a raw gap of $2,896 lower. The Lima labor market has 43,810 tracked jobs against 86,460 in Billings, 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 Billings and Lima are 426 and 293 per 100,000 (state-level). NCES student-teacher ratios run 11.8:1 at origin versus 18.2:1 at destination. DOL center-based infant care costs $11,466/year in Billings versus $11,791/year in Lima. Our composite verdict - Favorable - weighs all seven federal sources; the dimension table below lets you override that with your personal priorities.