Burlington → Cleveland
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Burlington to Cleveland is favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 93.2 to 88.1 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $115/mo.
- -$5,022
- BLS median salary lower in Cleveland
- 365 to 602
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 15.8:1 to 15.3:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $1,627
- DOL infant care lower / yr in Cleveland
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
- + 5% lower cost of living
- + $115/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + More affordable childcare
- + Fewer environmental violations
Cons of Moving
- - $5K lower median salary
- - Higher violent crime rate
Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP falls from 93.2 to 88.1, so each dollar covers more in Cleveland (ratio 0.95). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $115/mo ($1,380/yr) from $1,348 in Burlington to $1,233 in Cleveland.
Cleveland leads on 5 of 7 federal dimensions, a destination-heavy ledger. Cleveland sits #280 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (bottom third of the corpus). Burlington is #193/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $5,022 lower ($59,725 → $54,703). Labor-market size: 61,270 tracked jobs at origin vs 36,510 at destination.
State retirement friendliness is near-even: North Carolina 68 (C, #13/51) vs Tennessee 66 (C, #17/51). 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
- 68
- Property tax
- 66
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 30
- Income tax
- 100
- Property tax
- 80
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 36
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 Burlington to see what you'd need to earn in Cleveland 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