Carson City → Pocatello
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Carson City to Pocatello is strongly favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 98.1 to 88.9 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $373/mo.
- -$6,755
- BLS median salary lower in Pocatello
- 407 to 235
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 20.5:1 to 17.1:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $2,718
- DOL infant care lower / yr in Pocatello
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
- + 9% lower cost of living
- + $373/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + Lower violent crime rate
- + Better student-teacher ratios
- + More affordable childcare
Cons of Moving
- - $7K lower median salary
- - More environmental violations
Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP falls from 98.1 to 88.9, so each dollar covers more in Pocatello (ratio 0.91). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $373/mo ($4,476/yr) from $1,546 in Carson City to $1,173 in Pocatello.
Pocatello leads on 5 of 7 federal dimensions, a destination-heavy ledger. Pocatello sits #92 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Carson City is #356/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Strongly Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $6,755 lower ($66,022 → $59,267). Labor-market size: 25,810 tracked jobs at origin vs 29,080 at destination.
State retirement friendliness is near-even: Nevada 53 (D, #39/51) vs Idaho 58 (D, #30/51). 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
- 100
- Property tax
- 84
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 2
- Income tax
- 70
- Property tax
- 76
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 24
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 Carson City to see what you'd need to earn in Pocatello 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