Overall
Diff +0.1 RPP
Billings vs Columbia
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Columbia is 0.1% more expensive than Billings.
0.1% more expensive
Columbia, SC is 0.1% more expensive than Billings, MT on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 93.7 vs 93.5). A $100,000 salary in Billings buys about the same as $100,145 in Columbia; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 93.5 (Billings) vs 93.7 (Columbia)
- $100k in Billings ≈ $100,145 purchasing power in Columbia
- Services drives the gap (+15.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MT:SC 93.5→93.7
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MT × SC
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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
Columbia
93.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Billings, MT and Columbia, SC are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services leads the difference, with Columbia 15.9 points higher than Billings. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
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 $100,145 in Columbia, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +0.3 RPP
Services
Diff +15.9 RPP
Rents
Diff +2.1 RPP
| Category | Billings | Columbia | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 93.5 | 93.7 | +0.1 |
| Goods | 96.0 | 96.3 | +0.3 |
| Services | 72.4 | 88.3 | +15.9 |
| Rents | 77.4 | 79.5 | +2.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Billings 93.5
Columbia 93.7
Goods
Billings 96.0
Columbia 96.3
Services
Billings 72.4
Columbia 88.3
Rents
Billings 77.4
Columbia 79.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Billings would need to be in Columbia for the same purchasing power:
| In Billings | In Columbia | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,073 | +$73 |
| $75,000 | $75,109 | +$109 |
| $100,000 | $100,145 | +$145 |
| $150,000 | $150,218 | +$218 |
$ in Billings = in Columbia
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (93.5 → 93.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Columbia more expensive than Billings?
Columbia is 0.1% more expensive than Billings. The overall cost index is 93.7 vs 93.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Columbia equals $100K in Billings?
A $100,000 salary in Billings has the same purchasing power as $100,145 in Columbia. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Billings and Columbia?
Rents in Billings are indexed at 77.4 while Columbia is at 79.5 (national average = 100). Columbia 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.