Wilmington → Bangor
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Wilmington to Bangor is favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 96.4 to 96.5 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $34/mo.
- +$1,281
- BLS median salary higher in Bangor
- 365 to 102
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 15.8:1 to 11.1:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $1,838
- DOL infant care higher / yr in Bangor
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
- + Lower violent crime rate
- + Better student-teacher ratios
- + Fewer environmental violations
Cons of Moving
- - More expensive childcare
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 96.4 to 96.5 (ratio 1.00), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent barely moves ($1,426 → $1,392); the housing line is not the swing factor on this corridor.
Bangor leads on 5 of 7 federal dimensions, a destination-heavy ledger. Bangor sits #23 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Wilmington is #201/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $1,281 higher ($64,296 → $65,577). Labor-market size: 183,460 tracked jobs at origin vs 66,130 at destination.
State retirement friendliness is near-even: North Carolina 68 (C, #13/51) vs Maine 61 (C, #27/51). 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
- 68
- Property tax
- 66
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 30
- Income tax
- 68
- Property tax
- 60
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 100
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 Wilmington to see what you'd need to earn in Bangor 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