Waterloo-Cedar Falls → Rome
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Waterloo-Cedar Falls to Rome is unfavorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 87.1 to 90.2 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent rises by $141/mo.
- -$1,926
- BLS median salary lower in Rome
- 238 to 300
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 14.8:1 to 14.4:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $1,715
- DOL infant care lower / yr in Rome
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
- + More affordable childcare
Cons of Moving
- - 3% higher cost of living
- - $141/mo more expensive rent (2BR)
- - Higher violent crime rate
- - More environmental violations
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 87.1 to 90.2 (ratio 1.04), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent rises $141/mo ($1,692/yr) from $1,051 in Waterloo-Cedar Falls to $1,192 in Rome.
Waterloo-Cedar Falls still leads on 5 of 7 federal dimensions, the origin keeps the edge. Rome sits #71 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Waterloo-Cedar Falls is #66/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Unfavorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $1,926 lower ($61,344 → $59,418). Labor-market size: 77,420 tracked jobs at origin vs 36,420 at destination.
State retirement friendliness is near-even: Iowa 70 (B, #8/51) vs Georgia 68 (C, #10/51). 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
- 85
- Property tax
- 58
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 42
- Income tax
- 88
- Property tax
- 74
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 48
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 Waterloo-Cedar Falls to see what you'd need to earn in Rome 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