Roanoke → Sierra Vista-Douglas

Moving from Roanoke to Sierra Vista-Douglas shifts your BEA Regional Price Parity from 93.6 to 89.2 (100 = US average), so a Roanoke salary needs to be multiplied by 0.95 to hold the same purchasing power in Sierra Vista-Douglas. On rent, HUD Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom goes from $1,254/month in Roanoke to $1,257/month in Sierra Vista-Douglas - a higher monthly bill of $3, or $36/year. That rent delta alone is often the single biggest line item when relocating.

Wages tell the other half. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics report a median salary of $64,974 in Roanoke versus $62,643 in Sierra Vista-Douglas - a raw gap of $2,331 lower. The Sierra Vista-Douglas labor market has 28,720 tracked jobs against 144,240 in Roanoke, shaping how easy it is to find a comparable role. Combine that with the cost-of-living shift above and you get the real purchasing-power delta, sometimes a "higher salary" is actually a pay cut once rent and RPP are applied.

Safety, schools, and childcare round out the move. FBI UCR violent crime rates near Roanoke and Sierra Vista-Douglas are 223 and 429 per 100,000 (state-level). NCES student-teacher ratios run 13.9:1 at origin versus 17:1 at destination. DOL center-based infant care costs $10,407/year in Roanoke versus $11,301/year in Sierra Vista-Douglas. Our composite verdict - Unfavorable - weighs all seven federal sources; the dimension table below lets you override that with your personal priorities.