Overall
- Bloomington
- 93.5
- Billings
- 93.5
Diff -0.0 RPP
Bloomington vs Billings
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Billings is 0% less expensive than Bloomington.
0% less expensive
Billings, MT is 0% less expensive than Bloomington, IL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 93.5 vs 93.5). A $100,000 salary in Bloomington buys about the same as $99,988 in Billings; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 93.5 (Bloomington) vs 93.5 (Billings)
- $100k in Bloomington ≈ $99,988 purchasing power in Billings
- Services drives the gap (-17.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IL:MT 93.5→93.5
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IL × 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.
Bloomington
93.5
Cost Index
Billings
93.5
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Bloomington, IL and Billings, MT 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: Billings is 17.2 points lower. 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 Bloomington to $99,988 in Billings, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Bloomington
- 93.6
- Billings
- 96.0
Diff +2.4 RPP
Services
- Bloomington
- 89.6
- Billings
- 72.4
Diff -17.2 RPP
Rents
- Bloomington
- 74.7
- Billings
- 77.4
Diff +2.6 RPP
| Category | Bloomington | Billings | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 93.5 | 93.5 | -0.0 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 96.0 | +2.4 |
| Services | 89.6 | 72.4 | -17.2 |
| Rents | 74.7 | 77.4 | +2.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Bloomington 93.5
Billings 93.5
Goods
Bloomington 93.6
Billings 96.0
Services
Bloomington 89.6
Billings 72.4
Rents
Bloomington 74.7
Billings 77.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Bloomington would need to be in Billings for the same purchasing power:
| In Bloomington | In Billings | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,994 | $-6 |
| $75,000 | $74,991 | $-9 |
| $100,000 | $99,988 | $-12 |
| $150,000 | $149,982 | $-18 |
$ in Bloomington = in Billings
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 Billings more expensive than Bloomington?
Billings is 0% less expensive than Bloomington. The overall cost index is 93.5 vs 93.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Billings equals $100K in Bloomington?
A $100,000 salary in Bloomington has the same purchasing power as $99,988 in Billings. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Bloomington and Billings?
Rents in Bloomington are indexed at 74.7 while Billings is at 77.4 (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.