Santa Fe → Eau Claire
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Santa Fe to Eau Claire is strongly favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 98.8 to 92.8 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $504/mo.
- -$1,200
- BLS median salary lower in Eau Claire
- 697 to 280
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 14:1 to 14.4:1
- 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
- + 6% lower cost of living
- + $504/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + Lower violent crime rate
- + Fewer environmental violations
Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP falls from 98.8 to 92.8, so each dollar covers more in Eau Claire (ratio 0.94). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $504/mo ($6,048/yr) from $1,685 in Santa Fe to $1,181 in Eau Claire.
The seven-dimension ledger splits (4 destination wins · 2 origin wins); priorities decide this move. Eau Claire sits #80 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Santa Fe is #343/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Strongly Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $1,200 lower ($66,448 → $65,248). Labor-market size: 55,730 tracked jobs at origin vs 79,810 at destination.
State retirement friendliness is near-even: New Mexico 59 (D, #28/51) vs Wisconsin 57 (D, #32/51). 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
- 78
- Property tax
- 77
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 50
- Income tax
- 62
- Property tax
- 56
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 40
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 Santa Fe to see what you'd need to earn in Eau Claire 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