Columbia → Huntington-Ashland
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Columbia to Huntington-Ashland is favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 93.7 to 88.4 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $303/mo.
- -$1,413
- BLS median salary lower in Huntington-Ashland
- 439 to 242
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 14.3:1 to 13.1:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $1,242
- DOL infant care higher / yr in Huntington-Ashland
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
- + 5% lower cost of living
- + $303/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + Lower violent crime rate
- + Better student-teacher ratios
Cons of Moving
- - More expensive childcare
- - More environmental violations
Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP falls from 93.7 to 88.4, so each dollar covers more in Huntington-Ashland (ratio 0.94). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $303/mo ($3,636/yr) from $1,276 in Columbia to $973 in Huntington-Ashland.
The seven-dimension ledger splits (4 destination wins · 3 origin wins); priorities decide this move. Huntington-Ashland sits #12 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Columbia is #29/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $1,413 lower ($64,117 → $62,704). Labor-market size: 383,170 tracked jobs at origin vs 133,420 at destination.
State retirement friendliness is near-even: South Carolina 80 (A, #3/51) vs West Virginia 82 (A, #2/51). 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
- 85
- Property tax
- 87
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 56
- Income tax
- 80
- Property tax
- 86
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 64
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 Columbia to see what you'd need to earn in Huntington-Ashland to maintain the same purchasing power.
Huntington-Ashland 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