Duluth → Beckley
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Duluth to Beckley is favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 88.8 to 88.4 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $317/mo.
- -$13,458
- BLS median salary lower in Beckley
- 259 to 242
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 15.8:1 to 13.1:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $2,748
- DOL infant care lower / yr in Beckley
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
- + $317/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + Better student-teacher ratios
- + More affordable childcare
Cons of Moving
- - $13K lower median salary
- - More environmental violations
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 88.8 to 88.4 (ratio 1.00), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $317/mo ($3,804/yr) from $1,232 in Duluth to $915 in Beckley.
Beckley leads on 5 of 7 federal dimensions, a destination-heavy ledger. Beckley sits #10 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Duluth is #79/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $13,458 lower ($70,452 → $56,994). Labor-market size: 117,960 tracked jobs at origin vs 37,740 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors the destination: West Virginia scores 82 (A, #2/51) vs Minnesota at 49 (F, #43/51). 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
- 60
- Property tax
- 62
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 34
- 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 Duluth to see what you'd need to earn in Beckley to maintain the same purchasing power.
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