Decatur → Owensboro

Moving from Decatur to Owensboro shifts your BEA Regional Price Parity from 88.4 to 88.6 (100 = US average), so a Decatur salary needs to be multiplied by 1.00 to hold the same purchasing power in Owensboro. On rent, HUD Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom goes from $1,063/month in Decatur to $1,110/month in Owensboro - a higher monthly bill of $47, or $564/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 $65,802 in Decatur versus $59,581 in Owensboro - a raw gap of $6,221 lower. The Owensboro labor market has 41,400 tracked jobs against 36,440 in Decatur, 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 Decatur and Owensboro are 277 and 225 per 100,000 (state-level). NCES student-teacher ratios run 14:1 at origin versus 15.2:1 at destination. DOL center-based infant care costs $12,257/year in Decatur versus $7,238/year in Owensboro. Our composite verdict - Neutral — Depends on Priorities - weighs all seven federal sources; the dimension table below lets you override that with your personal priorities.