Bismarck → Wausau
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Bismarck to Wausau is unfavorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 91.0 to 92.7 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $28/mo.
- -$7,079
- BLS median salary lower in Wausau
- 257 to 280
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 11.8:1 to 14.4:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $331
- DOL infant care higher / yr in Wausau
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.
Cons of Moving
- - $7K lower median salary
- - Higher student-teacher ratios
- - More environmental violations
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 91.0 to 92.7 (ratio 1.02), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent barely moves ($1,175 → $1,147); the housing line is not the swing factor on this corridor.
Bismarck still leads on 6 of 7 federal dimensions, the origin keeps the edge. Wausau sits #63 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Bismarck is #9/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Unfavorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $7,079 lower ($70,851 → $63,772). Labor-market size: 64,970 tracked jobs at origin vs 63,730 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors staying put: North Dakota scores 69 (C, #9/51) vs Wisconsin at 57 (D, #32/51). 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
- 75
- Property tax
- 59
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 94
- Income tax
- 62
- Property tax
- 56
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 40
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 Bismarck to see what you'd need to earn in Wausau 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