Overall
- Ames
- 88.8
- Boise City
- 98.4
Diff +9.6 RPP
Ames vs Boise City
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Boise City is 10.8% more expensive than Ames.
10.8% more expensive
Boise City, ID is 10.8% more expensive than Ames, IA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.4 vs 88.8). A $100,000 salary in Ames buys about the same as $110,763 in Boise City; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 88.8 (Ames) vs 98.4 (Boise City)
- $100k in Ames ≈ $110,763 purchasing power in Boise City
- Rents drives the gap (+36.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IA:ID 88.8→98.4
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE IA × ID
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Ames
- 93.7
- Boise City
- 96.2
Diff +2.4 RPP
Services
- Ames
- 83.0
- Boise City
- 70.7
Diff -12.3 RPP
Rents
- Ames
- 69.2
- Boise City
- 105.6
Diff +36.4 RPP
| Category | Ames | Boise City | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 88.8 | 98.4 | +9.6 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 96.2 | +2.4 |
| Services | 83.0 | 70.7 | -12.3 |
| Rents | 69.2 | 105.6 | +36.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Ames 88.8
Boise City 98.4
Goods
Ames 93.7
Boise City 96.2
Services
Ames 83.0
Boise City 70.7
Rents
Ames 69.2
Boise City 105.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Boise City is 36.4 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Ames, IA and Boise City, ID sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 9.6 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
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.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 Ames corresponds to $110,763 in Boise City.
Ames
88.8
Cost Index
Boise City
98.4
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Ames would need to be in Boise City for the same purchasing power:
| In Ames | In Boise City | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $55,382 | +$5,382 |
| $75,000 | $83,072 | +$8,072 |
| $100,000 | $110,763 | +$10,763 |
| $150,000 | $166,145 | +$16,145 |
$ in Ames = in Boise City
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (88.8 → 98.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Ames and Boise City share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 12.8 to 9.6 RPP points. Boise City remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Goods changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 15.7 points between the first and latest shared releases (18.1 to 2.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Ames RPP | Boise City RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 82.4 | 95.3 | 12.8 points Boise City higher |
| 2012 | 92.3 | 96.7 | 4.4 points Boise City higher |
| 2016 | 88.7 | 93.2 | 4.4 points Boise City higher |
| 2020 | 93.1 | 93.6 | 0.5 points Boise City higher |
| 2024 | 88.8 | 98.4 | 9.6 points Boise City 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Boise City more expensive than Ames?
Boise City is 10.8% more expensive than Ames. The overall cost index is 98.4 vs 88.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Boise City equals $100K in Ames?
A $100,000 salary in Ames has the same purchasing power as $110,763 in Boise City. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Ames and Boise City?
Rents in Ames are indexed at 69.2 while Boise City is at 105.6 (national average = 100). Boise City 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.