Mount Vernon-Anacortes → Walla Walla
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Mount Vernon-Anacortes to Walla Walla is favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 102.4 to 98.5 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $170/mo.
- -$3,634
- BLS median salary lower in Walla Walla
- 329 to 329
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 17.6:1 to 17.6:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $0
- 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
- + 4% lower cost of living
- + $170/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
Cons of Moving
- - $4K lower median salary
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 102.4 to 98.5 (ratio 0.96), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $170/mo ($2,040/yr) from $1,720 in Mount Vernon-Anacortes to $1,550 in Walla Walla.
The seven-dimension ledger splits (2 destination wins · 1 origin wins); priorities decide this move. Walla Walla sits #267 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (bottom third of the corpus). Mount Vernon-Anacortes is #253/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $3,634 lower ($74,635 → $71,001). Labor-market size: 46,720 tracked jobs at origin vs 19,680 at destination.
Both metros sit in Washington: state retirement score 38 (F, #51/51) - tax posture does not change with this move. 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
- 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 Mount Vernon-Anacortes 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