Fairbanks-College → Portland-South Portland
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Fairbanks-College to Portland-South Portland is strongly favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 103.2 to 101.9 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent rises by $157/mo.
- +$1,396
- BLS median salary higher in Portland-South Portland
- 728 to 102
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 15.2:1 to 11.1:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $4,600
- DOL infant care lower / yr in Portland-South Portland
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
- + Lower violent crime rate
- + Better student-teacher ratios
- + More affordable childcare
- + Fewer environmental violations
Cons of Moving
- - $157/mo more expensive rent (2BR)
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 103.2 to 101.9 (ratio 0.99), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent rises $157/mo ($1,884/yr) from $1,676 in Fairbanks-College to $1,833 in Portland-South Portland.
Portland-South Portland leads on 6 of 7 federal dimensions, a destination-heavy ledger. Portland-South Portland sits #94 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Fairbanks-College is #352/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Strongly Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $1,396 higher ($73,725 → $75,121). Labor-market size: 28,710 tracked jobs at origin vs 273,870 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors the destination: Maine scores 61 (C, #27/51) vs Alaska at 45 (F, #47/51). 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
- 100
- Property tax
- 82
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 6
- Income tax
- 68
- Property tax
- 60
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 100
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 Fairbanks-College to see what you'd need to earn in Portland-South Portland to maintain the same purchasing power.
Portland-South Portland 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