Pueblo → Ames
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Pueblo to Ames is strongly favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 91.8 to 88.8 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $243/mo.
- -$1,361
- BLS median salary lower in Ames
- 481 to 238
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 16.6:1 to 14.8:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $4,515
- DOL infant care lower / yr in Ames
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
- + $243/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + Lower violent crime rate
- + Better student-teacher ratios
- + More affordable childcare
- + Fewer environmental violations
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 91.8 to 88.8 (ratio 0.97), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $243/mo ($2,916/yr) from $1,269 in Pueblo to $1,026 in Ames.
Ames leads on 6 of 7 federal dimensions, a destination-heavy ledger. Ames sits #15 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Pueblo is #323/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Strongly Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $1,361 lower ($66,083 → $64,722). Labor-market size: 55,270 tracked jobs at origin vs 48,070 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors the destination: Iowa scores 70 (B, #8/51) vs Colorado at 46 (F, #44/51). 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
- 80
- Property tax
- 90
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 26
- Income tax
- 85
- Property tax
- 58
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 42
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 Pueblo to see what you'd need to earn in Ames to maintain the same purchasing power.
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