El Centro → Roanoke
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from El Centro to Roanoke is strongly favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 95.2 to 93.6 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $108/mo.
- -$6,220
- BLS median salary lower in Roanoke
- 477 to 223
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 21.5:1 to 13.9:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $7,513
- DOL infant care lower / yr in Roanoke
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
- + $108/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + Lower violent crime rate
- + Better student-teacher ratios
- + More affordable childcare
- + Fewer environmental violations
Cons of Moving
- - $6K lower median salary
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 95.2 to 93.6 (ratio 0.98), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $108/mo ($1,296/yr) from $1,362 in El Centro to $1,254 in Roanoke.
Roanoke leads on 6 of 7 federal dimensions, a destination-heavy ledger. Roanoke sits #104 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). El Centro is #350/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Strongly Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $6,220 lower ($71,194 → $64,974). Labor-market size: 57,840 tracked jobs at origin vs 144,240 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors the destination: Virginia scores 64 (C, #20/51) vs California at 40 (F, #50/51). 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
- 70
- Property tax
- 72
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 4
- Income tax
- 78
- Property tax
- 71
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 62
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 El Centro to see what you'd need to earn in Roanoke 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