Portland-South Portland → Fairbanks-College
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Portland-South Portland to Fairbanks-College is unfavorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 101.9 to 103.2 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $157/mo.
- -$1,396
- BLS median salary lower in Fairbanks-College
- 102 to 728
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 11.1:1 to 15.2:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $4,600
- DOL infant care higher / yr in Fairbanks-College
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
- + $157/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
Cons of Moving
- - Higher violent crime rate
- - Higher student-teacher ratios
- - More expensive childcare
- - More environmental violations
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 101.9 to 103.2 (ratio 1.01), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $157/mo ($1,884/yr) from $1,833 in Portland-South Portland to $1,676 in Fairbanks-College.
Portland-South Portland still leads on 6 of 7 federal dimensions, the origin keeps the edge. Fairbanks-College sits #352 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (bottom third of the corpus). Portland-South Portland is #94/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Unfavorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $1,396 lower ($75,121 → $73,725). Labor-market size: 273,870 tracked jobs at origin vs 28,710 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors staying put: Maine scores 61 (C, #27/51) vs Alaska at 45 (F, #47/51). 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
- 68
- Property tax
- 60
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 100
- Income tax
- 100
- Property tax
- 82
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 6
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 Portland-South Portland to see what you'd need to earn in Fairbanks-College to maintain the same purchasing power.
Fairbanks-College 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