Rockford → Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Rockford to Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater is less favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 92.2 to 100.9 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent rises by $802/mo.
- +$3,694
- BLS median salary higher in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater
- 277 to 210
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 14:1 to 17.8:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $1,752
- DOL infant care lower / yr in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater
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
- + $4K higher median salary
- + Lower violent crime rate
Cons of Moving
- - 9% higher cost of living
- - $802/mo more expensive rent (2BR)
- - Higher student-teacher ratios
Purchasing power tightens: BEA RPP rises from 92.2 to 100.9, so the same paycheck buys less in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater (ratio 1.09). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent rises $802/mo ($9,624/yr) from $1,175 in Rockford to $1,977 in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater.
The seven-dimension ledger splits (4 destination wins · 3 origin wins); priorities decide this move. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater sits #338 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (bottom third of the corpus). Rockford is #126/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Less Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $3,694 higher ($64,710 → $68,404). Labor-market size: 131,350 tracked jobs at origin vs 1,402,180 at destination.
State retirement friendliness is near-even: Illinois 58 (D, #31/51) vs Florida 62 (C, #23/51). 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
- 46
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 46
- Income tax
- 100
- Property tax
- 67
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 12
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 Rockford to see what you'd need to earn in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater to maintain the same purchasing power.
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater 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