Overall
- Billings
- 93.5
- Athens-Clarke County
- 93.3
Diff -0.2 RPP
Billings vs Athens-Clarke County
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Athens-Clarke County is 0.2% less expensive than Billings.
0.2% less expensive
Athens-Clarke County, GA is 0.2% less expensive than Billings, MT on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 93.3 vs 93.5). A $100,000 salary in Billings buys about the same as $99,804 in Athens-Clarke County; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 93.5 (Billings) vs 93.3 (Athens-Clarke County)
- $100k in Billings ≈ $99,804 purchasing power in Athens-Clarke County
- Services drives the gap (+16.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MT:GA 93.5→93.3
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MT × GA
- 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.
Billings
93.5
Cost Index
Athens-Clarke County
93.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Billings, MT and Athens-Clarke County, GA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.2 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Athens-Clarke County is 16.8 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Billings to $99,804 in Athens-Clarke County, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Billings
- 96.0
- Athens-Clarke County
- 96.3
Diff +0.3 RPP
Services
- Billings
- 72.4
- Athens-Clarke County
- 89.3
Diff +16.8 RPP
Rents
- Billings
- 77.4
- Athens-Clarke County
- 76.8
Diff -0.6 RPP
| Category | Billings | Athens-Clarke County | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 93.5 | 93.3 | -0.2 |
| Goods | 96.0 | 96.3 | +0.3 |
| Services | 72.4 | 89.3 | +16.8 |
| Rents | 77.4 | 76.8 | -0.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Billings 93.5
Athens-Clarke County 93.3
Goods
Billings 96.0
Athens-Clarke County 96.3
Services
Billings 72.4
Athens-Clarke County 89.3
Rents
Billings 77.4
Athens-Clarke County 76.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Billings would need to be in Athens-Clarke County for the same purchasing power:
| In Billings | In Athens-Clarke County | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,902 | $-98 |
| $75,000 | $74,853 | $-147 |
| $100,000 | $99,804 | $-196 |
| $150,000 | $149,706 | $-294 |
$ in Billings = in Athens-Clarke County
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (93.5 → 93.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Athens-Clarke County more expensive than Billings?
Athens-Clarke County is 0.2% less expensive than Billings. The overall cost index is 93.3 vs 93.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Athens-Clarke County equals $100K in Billings?
A $100,000 salary in Billings has the same purchasing power as $99,804 in Athens-Clarke County. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Billings and Athens-Clarke County?
Rents in Billings are indexed at 77.4 while Athens-Clarke County is at 76.8 (national average = 100). Billings 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.