Dubuque → Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Dubuque to Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin is unfavorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 87.3 to 96.3 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent rises by $653/mo.
- +$5,926
- BLS median salary higher in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin
- 238 to 602
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 14.8:1 to 15.3:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $446
- DOL infant care lower / yr in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin
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
- + $6K higher median salary
Cons of Moving
- - 9% higher cost of living
- - $653/mo more expensive rent (2BR)
- - Higher violent crime rate
- - More environmental violations
Purchasing power tightens: BEA RPP rises from 87.3 to 96.3, so the same paycheck buys less in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin (ratio 1.10). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent rises $653/mo ($7,836/yr) from $1,077 in Dubuque to $1,730 in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin.
Dubuque still leads on 5 of 7 federal dimensions, the origin keeps the edge. Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin sits #337 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (bottom third of the corpus). Dubuque is #33/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Unfavorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $5,926 higher ($61,930 → $67,856). Labor-market size: 51,410 tracked jobs at origin vs 1,079,340 at destination.
State retirement friendliness is near-even: Iowa 70 (B, #8/51) vs Tennessee 66 (C, #17/51). 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
- 58
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 42
- Income tax
- 100
- Property tax
- 80
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 36
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 Dubuque to see what you'd need to earn in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin to maintain the same purchasing power.
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin 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