Charlottesville → Altoona
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Charlottesville to Altoona is neutral, depends on priorities: BEA regional price parity goes from 99.1 to 89.5 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $686/mo.
- -$13,232
- BLS median salary lower in Altoona
- 223 to 250
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 13.9:1 to 13.6:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
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
- + 10% lower cost of living
- + $686/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
Cons of Moving
- - $13K lower median salary
- - More environmental violations
Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP falls from 99.1 to 89.5, so each dollar covers more in Altoona (ratio 0.90). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $686/mo ($8,232/yr) from $1,824 in Charlottesville to $1,138 in Altoona.
The seven-dimension ledger splits (3 destination wins · 3 origin wins); priorities decide this move. Altoona sits #41 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Charlottesville is #176/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Neutral, depends on priorities. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $13,232 lower ($70,567 → $57,335). Labor-market size: 96,390 tracked jobs at origin vs 52,800 at destination.
State retirement friendliness is near-even: Virginia 64 (C, #20/51) vs Pennsylvania 65 (C, #18/51). 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
- 78
- Property tax
- 71
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 62
- Income tax
- 95
- Property tax
- 58
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 72
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 Charlottesville to see what you'd need to earn in Altoona 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