Chico → Elizabethtown
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Chico to Elizabethtown is strongly favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 101.2 to 90.6 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $569/mo.
- -$8,604
- BLS median salary lower in Elizabethtown
- 477 to 225
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 21.5:1 to 15.2:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $10,682
- DOL infant care lower / yr in Elizabethtown
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
- + 11% lower cost of living
- + $569/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + Lower violent crime rate
- + Better student-teacher ratios
- + More affordable childcare
- + Fewer environmental violations
Cons of Moving
- - $9K lower median salary
Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP falls from 101.2 to 90.6, so each dollar covers more in Elizabethtown (ratio 0.90). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $569/mo ($6,828/yr) from $1,625 in Chico to $1,056 in Elizabethtown.
Elizabethtown leads on 6 of 7 federal dimensions, a destination-heavy ledger. Elizabethtown sits #64 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Chico is #363/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Strongly Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $8,604 lower ($69,223 → $60,619). Labor-market size: 70,590 tracked jobs at origin vs 46,020 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors the destination: Kentucky scores 68 (C, #11/51) vs California at 40 (F, #50/51). 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
- 70
- Property tax
- 72
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 4
- Income tax
- 72
- Property tax
- 73
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 38
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 Chico to see what you'd need to earn in Elizabethtown to maintain the same purchasing power.
Elizabethtown 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