Lansing-East Lansing → Dubuque
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Pros of Moving
- + 8% lower cost of living
- + $191/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + Lower violent crime rate
- + Better student-teacher ratios
Cons of Moving
- - $5K lower median salary
Moving from Lansing-East Lansing to Dubuque shifts your BEA Regional Price Parity from 95.0 to 87.3 (100 = US average), so a Lansing-East Lansing salary needs to be multiplied by 0.92 to hold the same purchasing power in Dubuque. On rent, HUD Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom goes from $1,268/month in Lansing-East Lansing to $1,077/month in Dubuque - a lower monthly bill of $191, or $2,292/year. That rent delta alone is often the single biggest line item when relocating.
Wages tell the other half. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics report a median salary of $66,647 in Lansing-East Lansing versus $61,930 in Dubuque - a raw gap of $4,717 lower. The Dubuque labor market has 51,410 tracked jobs against 207,670 in Lansing-East Lansing, shaping how easy it is to find a comparable role. Combine that with the cost-of-living shift above and you get the real purchasing-power delta, sometimes a "higher salary" is actually a pay cut once rent and RPP are applied.
Safety, schools, and childcare round out the move. FBI UCR violent crime rates near Lansing-East Lansing and Dubuque are 431 and 238 per 100,000 (state-level). NCES student-teacher ratios run 17.5:1 at origin versus 14.8:1 at destination. DOL center-based infant care costs $7,444/year in Lansing-East Lansing versus $8,306/year in Dubuque. Our composite verdict - Strongly Favorable - weighs all seven federal sources; the dimension table below lets you override that with your personal priorities.
Salary Adjustment Calculator
Enter your current salary in Lansing-East Lansing to see what you'd need to earn in Dubuque to maintain the same purchasing power.
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Frequently Asked Questions
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What are salaries like in Dubuque compared to Lansing-East Lansing?
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What does the "Strongly Favorable" verdict mean?
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Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA June 2026
Data Sources
- Cost of Living: Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Regional Price Parities
- Rent: HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR)
- Wages: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES)
- Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) - state level
- Schools: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
- Childcare: Department of Labor (DOL) - state level
- Environment: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.