Salisbury → Ames
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Salisbury to Ames is strongly favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 95.6 to 88.8 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $141/mo.
- -$1,775
- BLS median salary lower in Ames
- 425 to 238
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 14.5:1 to 14.8:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $6,325
- 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
- + 7% lower cost of living
- + $141/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + Lower violent crime rate
- + More affordable childcare
Cons of Moving
- - More environmental violations
Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP falls from 95.6 to 88.8, so each dollar covers more in Ames (ratio 0.93). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $141/mo ($1,692/yr) from $1,167 in Salisbury to $1,026 in Ames.
The seven-dimension ledger splits (4 destination wins · 3 origin wins); priorities decide this move. Ames sits #15 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Salisbury is #69/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Strongly Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $1,775 lower ($66,497 → $64,722). Labor-market size: 46,370 tracked jobs at origin vs 48,070 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors the destination: Iowa scores 70 (B, #8/51) vs Maryland at 46 (F, #45/51). 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
- 75
- Property tax
- 63
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 52
- 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 Salisbury 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