Panama City-Panama City Beach → Rocky Mount
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Panama City-Panama City Beach to Rocky Mount is favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 97.3 to 88.0 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $539/mo.
- -$2,858
- BLS median salary lower in Rocky Mount
- 210 to 365
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 17.8:1 to 15.8:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $1,018
- DOL infant care lower / yr in Rocky Mount
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
- + 9% lower cost of living
- + $539/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + Better student-teacher ratios
Cons of Moving
- - $3K lower median salary
- - Higher violent crime rate
Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP falls from 97.3 to 88.0, so each dollar covers more in Rocky Mount (ratio 0.90). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $539/mo ($6,468/yr) from $1,682 in Panama City-Panama City Beach to $1,143 in Rocky Mount.
The seven-dimension ledger splits (4 destination wins · 3 origin wins); priorities decide this move. Rocky Mount sits #22 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Panama City-Panama City Beach is #336/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $2,858 lower ($60,913 → $58,055). Labor-market size: 84,900 tracked jobs at origin vs 47,780 at destination.
State retirement friendliness is near-even: Florida 62 (C, #23/51) 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
- 100
- Property tax
- 67
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 12
- 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 Panama City-Panama City Beach to see what you'd need to earn in Rocky Mount to maintain the same purchasing power.
Rocky Mount 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