Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater → Fayetteville
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater to Fayetteville is strongly favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 103.7 to 92.0 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $709/mo.
- -$14,913
- BLS median salary lower in Fayetteville
- 329 to 365
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 17.6:1 to 15.8:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $6,500
- DOL infant care lower / yr in Fayetteville
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
- + 12% lower cost of living
- + $709/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + Better student-teacher ratios
- + More affordable childcare
Cons of Moving
- - $15K lower median salary
Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP falls from 103.7 to 92.0, so each dollar covers more in Fayetteville (ratio 0.89). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $709/mo ($8,508/yr) from $1,960 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater to $1,251 in Fayetteville.
The seven-dimension ledger splits (4 destination wins · 3 origin wins); priorities decide this move. Fayetteville sits #123 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is #258/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Strongly Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $14,913 lower ($77,750 → $62,837). Labor-market size: 123,100 tracked jobs at origin vs 121,490 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors the destination: North Carolina scores 68 (C, #13/51) vs Washington at 38 (F, #51/51). 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
- 63
- Property tax
- 63
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 18
- 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 Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater to see what you'd need to earn in Fayetteville to maintain the same purchasing power.
Fayetteville 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