Manhattan → Dubuque

Moving from Manhattan to Dubuque shifts your BEA Regional Price Parity from 90.2 to 87.3 (100 = US average), so a Manhattan salary needs to be multiplied by 0.97 to hold the same purchasing power in Dubuque. On rent, HUD Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom goes from $1,048/month in Manhattan to $1,077/month in Dubuque - a higher monthly bill of $29, or $348/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 $60,825 in Manhattan versus $61,930 in Dubuque - a raw gap of $1,105 higher. The Dubuque labor market has 51,410 tracked jobs against 45,880 in Manhattan, 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 Manhattan and Dubuque are 456 and 238 per 100,000 (state-level). NCES student-teacher ratios run 13.8:1 at origin versus 14.8:1 at destination. DOL center-based infant care costs $5,783/year in Manhattan versus $8,306/year in Dubuque. Our composite verdict - Favorable - weighs all seven federal sources; the dimension table below lets you override that with your personal priorities.