Durham-Chapel Hill → Colorado Springs

Moving from Durham-Chapel Hill to Colorado Springs shifts your BEA Regional Price Parity from 97.6 to 100.7 (100 = US average), so a Durham-Chapel Hill salary needs to be multiplied by 1.03 to hold the same purchasing power in Colorado Springs. On rent, HUD Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom goes from $1,711/month in Durham-Chapel Hill to $1,735/month in Colorado Springs - a higher monthly bill of $24, or $288/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 $71,457 in Durham-Chapel Hill versus $72,907 in Colorado Springs - a raw gap of $1,450 higher. The Colorado Springs labor market has 304,920 tracked jobs against 295,700 in Durham-Chapel Hill, 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 Durham-Chapel Hill and Colorado Springs are 365 and 481 per 100,000 (state-level). NCES student-teacher ratios run 15.8:1 at origin versus 16.6:1 at destination. DOL center-based infant care costs $9,487/year in Durham-Chapel Hill versus $12,821/year in Colorado Springs. Our composite verdict - Unfavorable - weighs all seven federal sources; the dimension table below lets you override that with your personal priorities.