Cincinnati → Grand Forks
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Cincinnati to Grand Forks is strongly favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 95.4 to 86.7 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $264/mo.
- -$5,230
- BLS median salary lower in Grand Forks
- 293 to 257
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 18.2:1 to 11.8:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $866
- DOL infant care lower / yr in Grand Forks
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
- + $264/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + Better student-teacher ratios
- + Fewer environmental violations
Cons of Moving
- - $5K lower median salary
Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP falls from 95.4 to 86.7, so each dollar covers more in Grand Forks (ratio 0.91). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $264/mo ($3,168/yr) from $1,353 in Cincinnati to $1,089 in Grand Forks.
Grand Forks leads on 6 of 7 federal dimensions, a destination-heavy ledger. Grand Forks sits #1 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Cincinnati is #294/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Strongly Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $5,230 lower ($71,458 → $66,228). Labor-market size: 1,092,010 tracked jobs at origin vs 46,030 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors the destination: North Dakota scores 69 (C, #9/51) vs Ohio at 59 (D, #29/51). 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
- 72
- Property tax
- 57
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 10
- Income tax
- 75
- Property tax
- 59
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 94
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 Cincinnati to see what you'd need to earn in Grand Forks to maintain the same purchasing power.
Grand Forks 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