Springfield → Dubuque

Moving from Springfield to Dubuque shifts your BEA Regional Price Parity from 88.6 to 87.3 (100 = US average), so a Springfield salary needs to be multiplied by 0.99 to hold the same purchasing power in Dubuque. On rent, HUD Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom goes from $1,095/month in Springfield to $1,077/month in Dubuque - a lower monthly bill of $18, or $216/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 $60,530 in Springfield versus $61,930 in Dubuque - a raw gap of $1,400 higher. The Dubuque labor market has 51,410 tracked jobs against 216,300 in Springfield, 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 Springfield and Dubuque are 463 and 238 per 100,000 (state-level). NCES student-teacher ratios run 12.8:1 at origin versus 14.8:1 at destination. Our composite verdict - Favorable - weighs all seven federal sources; the dimension table below lets you override that with your personal priorities.