Panama City-Panama City Beach Rome

Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources

Should you move?

Moving from Panama City-Panama City Beach to Rome is strongly favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 97.3 to 90.2 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $490/mo.

-$1,495
BLS median salary lower in Rome
210 to 300
violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
17.8:1 to 14.4:1
NCES student-teacher ratio
$3,914
DOL infant care lower / yr in Rome

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
Strongly Favorable
Cost Index: 97.3 → 90.2
Rent Delta: -$490/mo

Pros of Moving

  • + 7% lower cost of living
  • + $490/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
  • + Better student-teacher ratios
  • + More affordable childcare

Cons of Moving

  • - Higher violent crime rate

Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP falls from 97.3 to 90.2, so each dollar covers more in Rome (ratio 0.93). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $490/mo ($5,880/yr) from $1,682 in Panama City-Panama City Beach to $1,192 in Rome.

The seven-dimension ledger splits (4 destination wins · 3 origin wins); priorities decide this move. Rome sits #71 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: Strongly Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.

BLS OEWS median salary moves $1,495 lower ($60,913 → $59,418). Labor-market size: 84,900 tracked jobs at origin vs 36,420 at destination.

State retirement friendliness is near-even: Florida 62 (C, #23/51) vs Georgia 68 (C, #10/51). Full state tax and healthcare sub-scores sit in the retirement desk below.

Dimension
Panama City-Panama City Beach
Rome
Winner
Cost of Living
RPP 97.3
RPP 90.2
Rome
Rent (2BR)
$1,682/mo
$1,192/mo
Rome
Wages
$60,913
$59,418
Panama City-Panama City Beach
Crime
210 per 100K
300 per 100K
Panama City-Panama City Beach
Schools
17.8:1
14.4:1
Rome
Childcare
$10,505/yr
$6,591/yr
Rome
Environment
2736 violations
2771 violations
Panama City-Panama City Beach

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 · Florida
62 C #23/51
Income tax
100
Property tax
67
Estate tax
100
Healthcare
12
Destination state · Georgia
68 C #10/51
Income tax
88
Property tax
74
Estate tax
100
Healthcare
48

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 Rome to maintain the same purchasing power.

Equivalent salary in Rome
-

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