College Station-Bryan → Portland-South Portland

Moving from College Station-Bryan to Portland-South Portland shifts your BEA Regional Price Parity from 91.0 to 101.9 (100 = US average), so a College Station-Bryan salary needs to be multiplied by 1.12 to hold the same purchasing power in Portland-South Portland. On rent, HUD Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom goes from $1,186/month in College Station-Bryan to $1,833/month in Portland-South Portland - a higher monthly bill of $647, or $7,764/year. That rent delta alone is often the single biggest line item when relocating.

Wages tell the other half. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics report a median salary of $62,191 in College Station-Bryan versus $75,121 in Portland-South Portland - a raw gap of $12,930 higher. The Portland-South Portland labor market has 273,870 tracked jobs against 118,500 in College Station-Bryan, shaping how easy it is to find a comparable role. Combine that with the cost-of-living shift above and you get the real purchasing-power delta, sometimes a "higher salary" is actually a pay cut once rent and RPP are applied.

Safety, schools, and childcare round out the move. FBI UCR violent crime rates near College Station-Bryan and Portland-South Portland are 395 and 102 per 100,000 (state-level). NCES student-teacher ratios run 14.7:1 at origin versus 11.1:1 at destination. DOL center-based infant care costs $7,566/year in College Station-Bryan versus $11,325/year in Portland-South Portland. Our composite verdict - Favorable - weighs all seven federal sources; the dimension table below lets you override that with your personal priorities.