Iowa City → Jackson
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Iowa City to Jackson is neutral, depends on priorities: BEA regional price parity goes from 91.5 to 89.0 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent rises by $147/mo.
- -$8,848
- BLS median salary lower in Jackson
- 238 to 143
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 14.8:1 to 13.3:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $1,808
- DOL infant care lower / yr in Jackson
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
Cons of Moving
- - $147/mo more expensive rent (2BR)
- - $9K lower median salary
- - More environmental violations
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 91.5 to 89.0 (ratio 0.97), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent rises $147/mo ($1,764/yr) from $1,141 in Iowa City to $1,288 in Jackson.
The seven-dimension ledger splits (4 destination wins · 3 origin wins); priorities decide this move. Jackson sits #60 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Iowa City is #59/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Neutral, depends on priorities. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $8,848 lower ($66,752 → $57,904). Labor-market size: 83,600 tracked jobs at origin vs 261,190 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors the destination: Mississippi scores 89 (A, #1/51) vs Iowa at 70 (B, #8/51). 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
- 85
- Property tax
- 58
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 42
- Income tax
- 92
- Property tax
- 75
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 76
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 Iowa City to see what you'd need to earn in Jackson 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