Decatur → Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Decatur to Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton is unfavorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 87.2 to 88.5 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent rises by $134/mo.
- -$2,164
- BLS median salary lower in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton
- 376 to 365
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 17.7:1 to 15.8:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $2,591
- DOL infant care higher / yr in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton
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
- + Better student-teacher ratios
Cons of Moving
- - $134/mo more expensive rent (2BR)
- - $2K lower median salary
- - More expensive childcare
- - More environmental violations
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 87.2 to 88.5 (ratio 1.01), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent rises $134/mo ($1,608/yr) from $961 in Decatur to $1,095 in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton.
Decatur still leads on 5 of 7 federal dimensions, the origin keeps the edge. Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton sits #56 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Decatur is #55/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Unfavorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $2,164 lower ($61,714 → $59,550). Labor-market size: 54,590 tracked jobs at origin vs 148,530 at destination.
State retirement friendliness is near-even: Alabama 75 (B, #5/51) vs North Carolina 68 (C, #13/51). 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
- 90
- Property tax
- 92
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 20
- Income tax
- 68
- Property tax
- 66
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 30
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 Decatur to see what you'd need to earn in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton to maintain the same purchasing power.
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton 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