Overall
- Boise City
- 98.4
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 109.4
Diff +11.0 RPP
Boise City vs Kahului-Wailuku
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Kahului-Wailuku is 11.2% more expensive than Boise City.
11.2% more expensive
Kahului-Wailuku, HI is 11.2% more expensive than Boise City, ID on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 109.4 vs 98.4). A $100,000 salary in Boise City buys about the same as $111,182 in Kahului-Wailuku; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.4 (Boise City) vs 109.4 (Kahului-Wailuku)
- $100k in Boise City ≈ $111,182 purchasing power in Kahului-Wailuku
- Services drives the gap (+119.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair ID:HI 98.4→109.4
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE ID × HI
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Boise City, ID and Kahului-Wailuku, HI sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 11.0 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Kahului-Wailuku is above 100 while Boise City is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Services leads the difference, with Kahului-Wailuku 119.9 points higher than Boise City. 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.
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 $111,182 in Kahului-Wailuku, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Boise City and Kahului-Wailuku share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 12.3 to 11.0 RPP points. Kahului-Wailuku remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 50.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (69.9 to 119.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Boise City RPP | Kahului-Wailuku RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.3 | 107.5 | 12.3 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2012 | 96.7 | 102.7 | 6.0 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2016 | 93.2 | 102.9 | 9.7 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2020 | 93.6 | 111.5 | 17.9 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2024 | 98.4 | 109.4 | 11.0 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Boise City
- 96.2
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 111.6
Diff +15.4 RPP
Services
- Boise City
- 70.7
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 190.6
Diff +119.9 RPP
Rents
- Boise City
- 105.6
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 119.2
Diff +13.6 RPP
| Category | Boise City | Kahului-Wailuku | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.4 | 109.4 | +11.0 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 111.6 | +15.4 |
| Services | 70.7 | 190.6 | +119.9 |
| Rents | 105.6 | 119.2 | +13.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Boise City 98.4
Kahului-Wailuku 109.4
Goods
Boise City 96.2
Kahului-Wailuku 111.6
Services
Boise City 70.7
Kahului-Wailuku 190.6
Rents
Boise City 105.6
Kahului-Wailuku 119.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Boise City would need to be in Kahului-Wailuku for the same purchasing power:
| In Boise City | In Kahului-Wailuku | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $55,591 | +$5,591 |
| $75,000 | $83,386 | +$8,386 |
| $100,000 | $111,182 | +$11,182 |
| $150,000 | $166,773 | +$16,773 |
$ in Boise City = in Kahului-Wailuku
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.4 → 109.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Boise City
98.4
Cost Index
Kahului-Wailuku
109.4
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Kahului-Wailuku more expensive than Boise City?
Kahului-Wailuku is 11.2% more expensive than Boise City. The overall cost index is 109.4 vs 98.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Kahului-Wailuku equals $100K in Boise City?
A $100,000 salary in Boise City has the same purchasing power as $111,182 in Kahului-Wailuku. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Boise City and Kahului-Wailuku?
Rents in Boise City are indexed at 105.6 while Kahului-Wailuku is at 119.2 (national average = 100). Kahului-Wailuku 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.