Reading → Morgantown
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Reading to Morgantown is favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 97.1 to 93.3 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $476/mo.
- -$3,079
- BLS median salary lower in Morgantown
- 250 to 242
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 13.6:1 to 13.1:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
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
- + 4% lower cost of living
- + $476/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + Fewer environmental violations
Cons of Moving
- - $3K lower median salary
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 97.1 to 93.3 (ratio 0.96), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $476/mo ($5,712/yr) from $1,575 in Reading to $1,099 in Morgantown.
Morgantown leads on 5 of 7 federal dimensions, a destination-heavy ledger. Morgantown sits #25 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Reading is #268/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $3,079 lower ($63,487 → $60,408). Labor-market size: 165,600 tracked jobs at origin vs 57,550 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors the destination: West Virginia scores 82 (A, #2/51) vs Pennsylvania at 65 (C, #18/51). 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
- 95
- Property tax
- 58
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 72
- Income tax
- 80
- Property tax
- 86
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 64
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 Reading to see what you'd need to earn in Morgantown 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