Wheeling → Fort Smith
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Wheeling to Fort Smith is less favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 88.3 to 85.9 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $54/mo.
- -$4,891
- BLS median salary lower in Fort Smith
- 242 to 580
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 13.1:1 to 13.6:1
- 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
- + $54/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
Cons of Moving
- - $5K lower median salary
- - Higher violent crime rate
- - More environmental violations
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 88.3 to 85.9 (ratio 0.97), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $54/mo ($648/yr) from $991 in Wheeling to $937 in Fort Smith.
The seven-dimension ledger splits (2 destination wins · 4 origin wins); priorities decide this move. Fort Smith sits #50 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Wheeling is #8/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Less Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $4,891 lower ($58,635 → $53,744). Labor-market size: 52,560 tracked jobs at origin vs 89,060 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors staying put: West Virginia scores 82 (A, #2/51) vs Arkansas at 74 (B, #6/51). 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
- 80
- Property tax
- 86
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 64
- Income tax
- 75
- Property tax
- 78
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 68
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 Wheeling to see what you'd need to earn in Fort Smith 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