PlainRelocate

New York-Newark-Jersey City → Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim

Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources

Should you move?

Moving from New York-Newark-Jersey City to Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim is unfavorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 112.6 to 113.6 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent rises by $277/mo.

-$4,872
BLS median salary lower in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim
380 to 477
violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
11.8:1 to 21.5:1
NCES student-teacher ratio
$4,051
DOL infant care higher / yr in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim

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.

Verdict
Unfavorable
Cost Index: 112.6 → 113.6
Rent Delta: +$277/mo

Cons of Moving

  • - $277/mo more expensive rent (2BR)
  • - $5K lower median salary
  • - Higher violent crime rate
  • - Higher student-teacher ratios
  • - More expensive childcare
  • - More environmental violations

Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 112.6 to 113.6 (ratio 1.01), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent rises $277/mo ($3,324/yr) from $2,324 in New York-Newark-Jersey City to $2,601 in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim.

New York-Newark-Jersey City still leads on 7 of 7 federal dimensions, the origin keeps the edge. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim sits #383 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (bottom third of the corpus). New York-Newark-Jersey City is #344/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Unfavorable. Override it with the dimension table below.

BLS OEWS median salary moves $4,872 lower ($87,148 → $82,276). Labor-market size: 9,414,820 tracked jobs at origin vs 6,167,970 at destination.

State retirement friendliness is near-even: New York 46 (F, #46/51) vs California 40 (F, #50/51). Full state tax and healthcare sub-scores sit in the retirement desk below.

Dimension
New York-Newark-Jersey City
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim
Winner
Cost of Living
RPP 112.6
RPP 113.6
New York-Newark-Jersey City
Rent (2BR)
$2,324/mo
$2,601/mo
New York-Newark-Jersey City
Wages
$87,148
$82,276
New York-Newark-Jersey City
Crime
380 per 100K
477 per 100K
New York-Newark-Jersey City
Schools
11.8:1
21.5:1
New York-Newark-Jersey City
Childcare
$13,869/yr
$17,920/yr
New York-Newark-Jersey City
Environment
5536 violations
17705 violations
New York-Newark-Jersey City

State retirement friendliness

Primary-state scores from PlainRelocate's retirement registry (tax + healthcare + climate composite). Metro pairs use each metro's primary state abbreviation.

Origin state · New York
46 F #46/51
Income tax
80
Property tax
48
Estate tax
50
Healthcare
96
Destination state · California
40 F #50/51
Income tax
70
Property tax
72
Estate tax
100
Healthcare
4

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 New York-Newark-Jersey City to see what you'd need to earn in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim to maintain the same purchasing power.

Equivalent salary in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim
-
See the reverse: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim → New York-Newark-Jersey City

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 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