Bismarck → La Crosse-Onalaska

Moving from Bismarck to La Crosse-Onalaska shifts your BEA Regional Price Parity from 91.0 to 91.8 (100 = US average), so a Bismarck salary needs to be multiplied by 1.01 to hold the same purchasing power in La Crosse-Onalaska. On rent, HUD Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom goes from $1,175/month in Bismarck to $1,166/month in La Crosse-Onalaska - a lower monthly bill of $9, or $108/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 $70,851 in Bismarck versus $65,600 in La Crosse-Onalaska - a raw gap of $5,251 lower. The La Crosse-Onalaska labor market has 78,110 tracked jobs against 64,970 in Bismarck, 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 Bismarck and La Crosse-Onalaska are 257 and 280 per 100,000 (state-level). NCES student-teacher ratios run 11.8:1 at origin versus 14.4:1 at destination. DOL center-based infant care costs $10,925/year in Bismarck versus $11,256/year in La Crosse-Onalaska. Our composite verdict - Unfavorable - weighs all seven federal sources; the dimension table below lets you override that with your personal priorities.