Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville → Charleston
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville to Charleston is favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 100.0 to 88.7 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $840/mo.
- -$4,454
- BLS median salary lower in Charleston
- 210 to 242
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 17.8:1 to 13.1:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $1,531
- DOL infant care lower / yr in Charleston
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
- + 11% lower cost of living
- + $840/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + Better student-teacher ratios
Cons of Moving
- - $4K lower median salary
Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP falls from 100.0 to 88.7, so each dollar covers more in Charleston (ratio 0.89). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $840/mo ($10,080/yr) from $1,709 in Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville to $869 in Charleston.
Charleston leads on 5 of 7 federal dimensions, a destination-heavy ledger. Charleston sits #3 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville is #254/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $4,454 lower ($66,315 → $61,861). Labor-market size: 236,180 tracked jobs at origin vs 94,760 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors the destination: West Virginia scores 82 (A, #2/51) vs Florida at 62 (C, #23/51). 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
- 100
- Property tax
- 67
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 12
- Income tax
- 80
- Property tax
- 86
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 64
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 Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville to see what you'd need to earn in Charleston to maintain the same purchasing power.
Charleston 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