La Crosse-Onalaska → Huntington-Ashland
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from La Crosse-Onalaska to Huntington-Ashland is strongly favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 91.8 to 88.4 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $193/mo.
- -$2,896
- BLS median salary lower in Huntington-Ashland
- 280 to 242
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 14.4:1 to 13.1:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $2,282
- DOL infant care lower / yr in Huntington-Ashland
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
- + 3% lower cost of living
- + $193/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + Better student-teacher ratios
- + More affordable childcare
Cons of Moving
- - $3K lower median salary
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 91.8 to 88.4 (ratio 0.96), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $193/mo ($2,316/yr) from $1,166 in La Crosse-Onalaska to $973 in Huntington-Ashland.
Huntington-Ashland leads on 5 of 7 federal dimensions, a destination-heavy ledger. Huntington-Ashland sits #12 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). La Crosse-Onalaska is #34/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Strongly Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $2,896 lower ($65,600 → $62,704). Labor-market size: 78,110 tracked jobs at origin vs 133,420 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors the destination: West Virginia scores 82 (A, #2/51) vs Wisconsin at 57 (D, #32/51). 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
- 62
- Property tax
- 56
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 40
- Income tax
- 80
- Property tax
- 86
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 64
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 La Crosse-Onalaska to see what you'd need to earn in Huntington-Ashland to maintain the same purchasing power.
Huntington-Ashland 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