Wilmington → Lewiston-Auburn

Moving from Wilmington to Lewiston-Auburn shifts your BEA Regional Price Parity from 96.4 to 94.7 (100 = US average), so a Wilmington salary needs to be multiplied by 0.98 to hold the same purchasing power in Lewiston-Auburn. On rent, HUD Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom goes from $1,426/month in Wilmington to $1,586/month in Lewiston-Auburn - a higher monthly bill of $160, or $1,920/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 $64,296 in Wilmington versus $62,617 in Lewiston-Auburn - a raw gap of $1,679 lower. The Lewiston-Auburn labor market has 41,990 tracked jobs against 183,460 in Wilmington, 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 Wilmington and Lewiston-Auburn are 365 and 102 per 100,000 (state-level). NCES student-teacher ratios run 15.8:1 at origin versus 11.1:1 at destination. DOL center-based infant care costs $9,487/year in Wilmington versus $11,325/year in Lewiston-Auburn. Our composite verdict - Favorable - weighs all seven federal sources; the dimension table below lets you override that with your personal priorities.