Iowa City → Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway

Moving from Iowa City to Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway shifts your BEA Regional Price Parity from 91.5 to 89.4 (100 = US average), so a Iowa City salary needs to be multiplied by 0.98 to hold the same purchasing power in Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway. On rent, HUD Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom goes from $1,141/month in Iowa City to $1,147/month in Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway - a higher monthly bill of $6, or $72/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 $66,752 in Iowa City versus $57,042 in Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway - a raw gap of $9,710 lower. The Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway labor market has 350,410 tracked jobs against 83,600 in Iowa City, 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 Iowa City and Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway are 238 and 580 per 100,000 (state-level). NCES student-teacher ratios run 14.8:1 at origin versus 13.6:1 at destination. Our composite verdict - Less Favorable - weighs all seven federal sources; the dimension table below lets you override that with your personal priorities.