Rapid City → Monroe
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Rapid City to Monroe is less favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 89.2 to 83.6 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $339/mo.
- -$6,929
- BLS median salary lower in Monroe
- 320 to 410
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 13.6:1 to 16.8:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $801
- DOL infant care higher / yr in Monroe
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
- + 6% lower cost of living
- + $339/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
Cons of Moving
- - $7K lower median salary
- - Higher violent crime rate
- - Higher student-teacher ratios
- - More environmental violations
Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP falls from 89.2 to 83.6, so each dollar covers more in Monroe (ratio 0.94). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $339/mo ($4,068/yr) from $1,173 in Rapid City to $834 in Monroe.
Rapid City still leads on 5 of 7 federal dimensions, the origin keeps the edge. Monroe sits #119 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Rapid City is #230/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Less Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $6,929 lower ($61,147 → $54,218). Labor-market size: 68,240 tracked jobs at origin vs 79,300 at destination.
State retirement friendliness is near-even: South Dakota 73 (B, #7/51) vs Louisiana 67 (C, #15/51). 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
- 64
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 70
- Income tax
- 78
- Property tax
- 79
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 8
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 Rapid City to see what you'd need to earn in Monroe 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