Huntington-Ashland → La Crosse-Onalaska
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Huntington-Ashland to La Crosse-Onalaska is unfavorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 88.4 to 91.8 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent rises by $193/mo.
- +$2,896
- BLS median salary higher in La Crosse-Onalaska
- 242 to 280
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 13.1:1 to 14.4:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $2,282
- DOL infant care higher / yr in La Crosse-Onalaska
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
- + $3K higher median salary
Cons of Moving
- - 3% higher cost of living
- - $193/mo more expensive rent (2BR)
- - Higher student-teacher ratios
- - More expensive childcare
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 88.4 to 91.8 (ratio 1.04), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent rises $193/mo ($2,316/yr) from $973 in Huntington-Ashland to $1,166 in La Crosse-Onalaska.
Huntington-Ashland still leads on 5 of 7 federal dimensions, the origin keeps the edge. La Crosse-Onalaska sits #34 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Huntington-Ashland is #12/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Unfavorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $2,896 higher ($62,704 → $65,600). Labor-market size: 133,420 tracked jobs at origin vs 78,110 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors staying put: West Virginia scores 82 (A, #2/51) vs Wisconsin at 57 (D, #32/51). 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
- 80
- Property tax
- 86
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 64
- Income tax
- 62
- Property tax
- 56
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 40
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 Huntington-Ashland to see what you'd need to earn in La Crosse-Onalaska to maintain the same purchasing power.
La Crosse-Onalaska 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