Overall
- Billings
- 93.5
- Bloomington
- 93.5
Diff +0.0 RPP
Billings vs Bloomington
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Bloomington is 0% more expensive than Billings.
0% more expensive
Bloomington, IL is 0% more expensive than Billings, MT on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 93.5 vs 93.5). A $100,000 salary in Billings buys about the same as $100,012 in Bloomington; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 93.5 (Billings) vs 93.5 (Bloomington)
- $100k in Billings ≈ $100,012 purchasing power in Bloomington
- Services drives the gap (+17.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MT:IL 93.5→93.5
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MT × IL
- 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
Bloomington
93.5
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Billings, MT and Bloomington, IL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.0 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Bloomington is 17.2 points higher. But rents 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 $100,012 in Bloomington, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Billings
- 96.0
- Bloomington
- 93.6
Diff -2.4 RPP
Services
- Billings
- 72.4
- Bloomington
- 89.6
Diff +17.2 RPP
Rents
- Billings
- 77.4
- Bloomington
- 74.7
Diff -2.6 RPP
| Category | Billings | Bloomington | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 93.5 | 93.5 | +0.0 |
| Goods | 96.0 | 93.6 | -2.4 |
| Services | 72.4 | 89.6 | +17.2 |
| Rents | 77.4 | 74.7 | -2.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Billings 93.5
Bloomington 93.5
Goods
Billings 96.0
Bloomington 93.6
Services
Billings 72.4
Bloomington 89.6
Rents
Billings 77.4
Bloomington 74.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Billings would need to be in Bloomington for the same purchasing power:
| In Billings | In Bloomington | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,006 | +$6 |
| $75,000 | $75,009 | +$9 |
| $100,000 | $100,012 | +$12 |
| $150,000 | $150,018 | +$18 |
$ in Billings = in Bloomington
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (93.5 → 93.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bloomington more expensive than Billings?
Bloomington is 0% more expensive than Billings. The overall cost index is 93.5 vs 93.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Bloomington equals $100K in Billings?
A $100,000 salary in Billings has the same purchasing power as $100,012 in Bloomington. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Billings and Bloomington?
Rents in Billings are indexed at 77.4 while Bloomington is at 74.7 (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.