Boulder → College Station-Bryan
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Boulder to College Station-Bryan is favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 105.2 to 91.0 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $938/mo.
- -$20,100
- BLS median salary lower in College Station-Bryan
- 481 to 395
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 16.6:1 to 14.7:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $5,255
- DOL infant care lower / yr in College Station-Bryan
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.
Pros of Moving
- + 14% lower cost of living
- + $938/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + Better student-teacher ratios
- + More affordable childcare
Cons of Moving
- - $20K lower median salary
- - More environmental violations
Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP falls from 105.2 to 91.0, so each dollar covers more in College Station-Bryan (ratio 0.86). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $938/mo ($11,256/yr) from $2,124 in Boulder to $1,186 in College Station-Bryan.
College Station-Bryan leads on 5 of 7 federal dimensions, a destination-heavy ledger. College Station-Bryan sits #95 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Boulder is #369/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $20,100 lower ($82,291 → $62,191). Labor-market size: 178,320 tracked jobs at origin vs 118,500 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors the destination: Texas scores 65 (C, #19/51) vs Colorado at 46 (F, #44/51). 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
- 80
- Property tax
- 90
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 26
- Income tax
- 100
- Property tax
- 55
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 44
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 Boulder to see what you'd need to earn in College Station-Bryan to maintain the same purchasing power.
College Station-Bryan metro profile · Livability rankings · Methodology
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