Overall
- Boise City
- 98.4
- Columbus
- 95.5
Diff -2.9 RPP
Boise City vs Columbus
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Columbus is 3% less expensive than Boise City.
3% less expensive
Columbus, OH is 3% less expensive than Boise City, ID on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 95.5 vs 98.4). A $100,000 salary in Boise City buys about the same as $97,030 in Columbus; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.4 (Boise City) vs 95.5 (Columbus)
- $100k in Boise City ≈ $97,030 purchasing power in Columbus
- Services drives the gap (+24.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair ID:OH 98.4→95.5
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE ID × OH
- 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
- Boise City
- 96.2
- Columbus
- 93.6
Diff -2.6 RPP
Services
- Boise City
- 70.7
- Columbus
- 95.5
Diff +24.8 RPP
Rents
- Boise City
- 105.6
- Columbus
- 87.9
Diff -17.6 RPP
| Category | Boise City | Columbus | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.4 | 95.5 | -2.9 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 93.6 | -2.6 |
| Services | 70.7 | 95.5 | +24.8 |
| Rents | 105.6 | 87.9 | -17.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Boise City 98.4
Columbus 95.5
Goods
Boise City 96.2
Columbus 93.6
Services
Boise City 70.7
Columbus 95.5
Rents
Boise City 105.6
Columbus 87.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Columbus is 24.8 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Columbus, OH is 3% less expensive than Boise City, ID, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.9-point overall gap.
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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Boise City to $97,030 in Columbus, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Boise City
98.4
Cost Index
Columbus
95.5
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Boise City would need to be in Columbus for the same purchasing power:
| In Boise City | In Columbus | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,515 | $-1,485 |
| $75,000 | $72,773 | $-2,227 |
| $100,000 | $97,030 | $-2,970 |
| $150,000 | $145,545 | $-4,455 |
$ in Boise City = in Columbus
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.4 → 95.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Columbus more expensive than Boise City?
Columbus is 3% less expensive than Boise City. The overall cost index is 95.5 vs 98.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Columbus equals $100K in Boise City?
A $100,000 salary in Boise City has the same purchasing power as $97,030 in Columbus. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Boise City and Columbus?
Rents in Boise City are indexed at 105.6 while Columbus is at 87.9 (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.