Fargo → Longview

Moving from Fargo to Longview shifts your BEA Regional Price Parity from 90.9 to 89.5 (100 = US average), so a Fargo salary needs to be multiplied by 0.98 to hold the same purchasing power in Longview. On rent, HUD Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom goes from $1,112/month in Fargo to $1,199/month in Longview - a higher monthly bill of $87, or $1,044/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 $69,516 in Fargo versus $58,714 in Longview - a raw gap of $10,802 lower. The Longview labor market has 109,710 tracked jobs against 142,800 in Fargo, 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 Fargo and Longview are 257 and 395 per 100,000 (state-level). NCES student-teacher ratios run 11.8:1 at origin versus 14.7:1 at destination. DOL center-based infant care costs $10,925/year in Fargo versus $7,566/year in Longview. Our composite verdict - Unfavorable - weighs all seven federal sources; the dimension table below lets you override that with your personal priorities.