Oklahoma City → Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Oklahoma City to Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton is favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 90.4 to 88.5 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $149/mo.
- -$4,274
- BLS median salary lower in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton
- 428 to 365
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 16.1:1 to 15.8:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $1,179
- DOL infant care lower / yr in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton
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
- + $149/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + Fewer environmental violations
Cons of Moving
- - $4K lower median salary
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 90.4 to 88.5 (ratio 0.98), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $149/mo ($1,788/yr) from $1,244 in Oklahoma City to $1,095 in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton.
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton leads on 6 of 7 federal dimensions, a destination-heavy ledger. Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton sits #56 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Oklahoma City is #283/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $4,274 lower ($63,824 → $59,550). Labor-market size: 665,370 tracked jobs at origin vs 148,530 at destination.
State retirement friendliness is near-even: Oklahoma 68 (C, #14/51) vs North Carolina 68 (C, #13/51). 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
- 75
- Property tax
- 70
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 28
- Income tax
- 68
- Property tax
- 66
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 30
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 Oklahoma City to see what you'd need to earn in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton to maintain the same purchasing power.
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton 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