Overall
- Albuquerque
- 95.5
- Missoula
- 96.4
Diff +0.9 RPP
Albuquerque vs Missoula
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Missoula is 0.9% more expensive than Albuquerque.
0.9% more expensive
Missoula, MT is 0.9% more expensive than Albuquerque, NM on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 96.4 vs 95.5). A $100,000 salary in Albuquerque buys about the same as $100,941 in Missoula; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 95.5 (Albuquerque) vs 96.4 (Missoula)
- $100k in Albuquerque ≈ $100,941 purchasing power in Missoula
- Rents drives the gap (+5.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NM:MT 95.5→96.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NM × MT
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Albuquerque
95.5
Cost Index
Missoula
96.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Albuquerque, NM and Missoula, MT are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.9 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Missoula is 5.8 points higher. But services and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
For a housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Albuquerque corresponds to $100,941 in Missoula.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Albuquerque
- 96.1
- Missoula
- 96.0
Diff -0.1 RPP
Services
- Albuquerque
- 77.9
- Missoula
- 72.1
Diff -5.8 RPP
Rents
- Albuquerque
- 89.2
- Missoula
- 94.9
Diff +5.8 RPP
| Category | Albuquerque | Missoula | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 95.5 | 96.4 | +0.9 |
| Goods | 96.1 | 96.0 | -0.1 |
| Services | 77.9 | 72.1 | -5.8 |
| Rents | 89.2 | 94.9 | +5.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Albuquerque 95.5
Missoula 96.4
Goods
Albuquerque 96.1
Missoula 96.0
Services
Albuquerque 77.9
Missoula 72.1
Rents
Albuquerque 89.2
Missoula 94.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Albuquerque and Missoula share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 1.0 to 0.9 RPP points. Missoula remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 17.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (12.1 to 5.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Albuquerque RPP | Missoula RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.0 | 98.0 | 1.0 points Missoula higher |
| 2012 | 99.6 | 93.9 | 5.7 points Albuquerque higher |
| 2016 | 96.6 | 95.8 | 0.8 points Albuquerque higher |
| 2020 | 94.2 | 93.9 | 0.3 points Albuquerque higher |
| 2024 | 95.5 | 96.4 | 0.9 points Missoula higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Albuquerque would need to be in Missoula for the same purchasing power:
| In Albuquerque | In Missoula | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,470 | +$470 |
| $75,000 | $75,706 | +$706 |
| $100,000 | $100,941 | +$941 |
| $150,000 | $151,411 | +$1,411 |
$ in Albuquerque = in Missoula
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (95.5 → 96.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Missoula more expensive than Albuquerque?
Missoula is 0.9% more expensive than Albuquerque. The overall cost index is 96.4 vs 95.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Missoula equals $100K in Albuquerque?
A $100,000 salary in Albuquerque has the same purchasing power as $100,941 in Missoula. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Albuquerque and Missoula?
Rents in Albuquerque are indexed at 89.2 while Missoula is at 94.9 (national average = 100). Missoula has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.