Lancaster → Albuquerque
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Lancaster to Albuquerque is neutral, depends on priorities: BEA regional price parity goes from 98.3 to 95.5 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $62/mo.
- +$3,143
- BLS median salary higher in Albuquerque
- 250 to 697
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 13.6:1 to 14:1
- 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.
Pros of Moving
- + $62/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + $3K higher median salary
Cons of Moving
- - Higher violent crime rate
- - More environmental violations
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 98.3 to 95.5 (ratio 0.97), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $62/mo ($744/yr) from $1,526 in Lancaster to $1,464 in Albuquerque.
The seven-dimension ledger splits (3 destination wins · 3 origin wins); priorities decide this move. Albuquerque sits #327 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (bottom third of the corpus). Lancaster is #288/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Neutral, depends on priorities. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $3,143 higher ($63,734 → $66,877). Labor-market size: 241,090 tracked jobs at origin vs 388,700 at destination.
State retirement friendliness is near-even: Pennsylvania 65 (C, #18/51) vs New Mexico 59 (D, #28/51). 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
- 95
- Property tax
- 58
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 72
- Income tax
- 78
- Property tax
- 77
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 50
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 Lancaster to see what you'd need to earn in Albuquerque to maintain the same purchasing power.
Albuquerque 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