State College → Decatur
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from State College to Decatur is strongly favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 96.8 to 88.4 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $343/mo.
- +$3,133
- BLS median salary higher in Decatur
- 250 to 277
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 13.6:1 to 14:1
- 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
- + 8% lower cost of living
- + $343/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + $3K higher median salary
- + Fewer environmental violations
Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP falls from 96.8 to 88.4, so each dollar covers more in Decatur (ratio 0.91). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $343/mo ($4,116/yr) from $1,406 in State College to $1,063 in Decatur.
The seven-dimension ledger splits (4 destination wins · 2 origin wins); priorities decide this move. Decatur sits #27 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). State College is #196/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Strongly Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $3,133 higher ($62,669 → $65,802). Labor-market size: 54,000 tracked jobs at origin vs 36,440 at destination.
State retirement friendliness is near-even: Pennsylvania 65 (C, #18/51) vs Illinois 58 (D, #31/51). 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
- 58
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 72
- Income tax
- 95
- Property tax
- 46
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 46
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 State College to see what you'd need to earn in Decatur 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