Joplin → Fort Smith
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Joplin to Fort Smith is unfavorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 85.7 to 85.9 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent rises by $60/mo.
- -$3,953
- BLS median salary lower in Fort Smith
- 463 to 580
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 12.8:1 to 13.6:1
- 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.
Cons of Moving
- - $60/mo more expensive rent (2BR)
- - $4K lower median salary
- - Higher violent crime rate
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 85.7 to 85.9 (ratio 1.00), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent rises $60/mo ($720/yr) from $877 in Joplin to $937 in Fort Smith.
Joplin still leads on 5 of 7 federal dimensions, the origin keeps the edge. Fort Smith sits #50 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Joplin is #32/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Unfavorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $3,953 lower ($57,697 → $53,744). Labor-market size: 77,720 tracked jobs at origin vs 89,060 at destination.
State retirement friendliness is near-even: Missouri 68 (C, #12/51) vs Arkansas 74 (B, #6/51). 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
- 82
- Property tax
- 68
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 80
- Income tax
- 75
- Property tax
- 78
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 68
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 Joplin to see what you'd need to earn in Fort Smith 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