Jacksonville → Iowa City
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Jacksonville to Iowa City is strongly favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 99.5 to 91.5 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent rises by $38/mo.
- -$1,011
- BLS median salary lower in Iowa City
- 210 to 238
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 17.8:1 to 14.8:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $2,199
- DOL infant care lower / yr in Iowa City
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
- + 8% lower cost of living
- + Better student-teacher ratios
- + More affordable childcare
- + Fewer environmental violations
Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP falls from 99.5 to 91.5, so each dollar covers more in Iowa City (ratio 0.92). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent barely moves ($1,103 → $1,141); the housing line is not the swing factor on this corridor.
The seven-dimension ledger splits (4 destination wins · 3 origin wins); priorities decide this move. Iowa City sits #59 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Jacksonville is #180/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Strongly Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $1,011 lower ($67,763 → $66,752). Labor-market size: 749,800 tracked jobs at origin vs 83,600 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors the destination: Iowa scores 70 (B, #8/51) vs Florida at 62 (C, #23/51). 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
- 67
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 12
- Income tax
- 85
- Property tax
- 58
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 42
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 Jacksonville to see what you'd need to earn in Iowa City 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