Fort Smith → Joplin
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Fort Smith to Joplin is strongly favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 85.9 to 85.7 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $60/mo.
- +$3,953
- BLS median salary higher in Joplin
- 580 to 463
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 13.6:1 to 12.8:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
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
- + $60/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + $4K higher median salary
- + Lower violent crime rate
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 85.9 to 85.7 (ratio 1.00), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $60/mo ($720/yr) from $937 in Fort Smith to $877 in Joplin.
Joplin leads on 5 of 7 federal dimensions, a destination-heavy ledger. Joplin sits #32 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Fort Smith is #50/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Strongly Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $3,953 higher ($53,744 → $57,697). Labor-market size: 89,060 tracked jobs at origin vs 77,720 at destination.
State retirement friendliness is near-even: Arkansas 74 (B, #6/51) vs Missouri 68 (C, #12/51). 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
- 75
- Property tax
- 78
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 68
- Income tax
- 82
- Property tax
- 68
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 80
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 Fort Smith to see what you'd need to earn in Joplin 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