Kahului-Wailuku → Walla Walla
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Kahului-Wailuku to Walla Walla is less favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 109.4 to 98.5 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $942/mo.
- -$1,703
- BLS median salary lower in Walla Walla
- 230 to 329
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 14.1:1 to 17.6:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $657
- DOL infant care higher / yr in Walla Walla
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
- + 11% lower cost of living
- + $942/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
Cons of Moving
- - Higher violent crime rate
- - Higher student-teacher ratios
- - More environmental violations
Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP falls from 109.4 to 98.5, so each dollar covers more in Walla Walla (ratio 0.90). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $942/mo ($11,304/yr) from $2,492 in Kahului-Wailuku to $1,550 in Walla Walla.
Kahului-Wailuku still leads on 5 of 7 federal dimensions, the origin keeps the edge. Walla Walla sits #267 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (bottom third of the corpus). Kahului-Wailuku is #155/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Less Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $1,703 lower ($72,704 → $71,001). Labor-market size: 67,610 tracked jobs at origin vs 19,680 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors staying put: Hawaii scores 56 (D, #33/51) vs Washington at 38 (F, #51/51). 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
- 72
- Property tax
- 96
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 58
- Income tax
- 63
- Property tax
- 63
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 18
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 Kahului-Wailuku to see what you'd need to earn in Walla Walla to maintain the same purchasing power.
Walla Walla 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