Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands → Joplin
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands to Joplin is strongly favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 98.6 to 85.7 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $218/mo.
- -$11,633
- BLS median salary lower in Joplin
- 395 to 463
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 14.7:1 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
- + 13% lower cost of living
- + $218/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + Better student-teacher ratios
- + Fewer environmental violations
Cons of Moving
- - $12K lower median salary
Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP falls from 98.6 to 85.7, so each dollar covers more in Joplin (ratio 0.87). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $218/mo ($2,616/yr) from $1,095 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands to $877 in Joplin.
The seven-dimension ledger splits (4 destination wins · 2 origin wins); priorities decide this move. Joplin sits #32 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is #248/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Strongly Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $11,633 lower ($69,330 → $57,697). Labor-market size: 3,246,270 tracked jobs at origin vs 77,720 at destination.
State retirement friendliness is near-even: Texas 65 (C, #19/51) 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
- 100
- Property tax
- 55
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 44
- 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 Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 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