New York

Evaluating New York as a relocation target starts with the statewide BEA Regional Price Parity of 107.9 - where 100 is the national average, so every point above or below translates to percent-level cost of living difference. Housing costs in New York index at 122.2, goods at 107.3, and services at 134.4. HUD Fair Market Rents averaged across New York counties put a 2-bedroom at $1,579/month, the figure HUD uses to cap Section 8 voucher payments, so it reflects real submarket rents rather than listings bias.

On the income side, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics report a statewide median salary of $83,188 with a mean of $88,291 across 9,618,120 tracked jobs. For safety context, FBI UCR data shows a violent crime rate of 380 per 100,000 residents and a property crime rate of 1661 per 100K. These state-level reads let you benchmark New York against both your origin state and national medians before zooming into specific metros.

Family and education costs often decide a move. Department of Labor data for New York shows center-based infant care running $13,869/year, preschool at $11,679/year, and toddler care at $12,979/year. New York contains 13 metropolitan statistical areas in our dataset - Albany-Schenectady-Troy, Binghamton, Buffalo-Cheektowaga and more - each with its own rent, wage and crime profile that can diverge sharply from the statewide average. The composite Life Score of 36.6/100 (F) folds all seven federal sources into one number for quick comparison.