Overall
- Boise City
- 98.4
- Ogden
- 100.3
Diff +2.0 RPP
Boise City vs Ogden
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Ogden is 2% more expensive than Boise City.
2% more expensive
Ogden, UT is 2% more expensive than Boise City, ID on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 100.3 vs 98.4). A $100,000 salary in Boise City buys about the same as $101,990 in Ogden; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.4 (Boise City) vs 100.3 (Ogden)
- $100k in Boise City ≈ $101,990 purchasing power in Ogden
- Rents drives the gap (+12.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair ID:UT 98.4→100.3
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE ID × UT
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- 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.
Boise City
98.4
Cost Index
Ogden
100.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Boise City, ID and Ogden, UT are a photo finish on overall price level, only 2.0 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents leads the difference, with Ogden 12.3 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.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Ogden is above 100 while Boise City is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
For a housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Boise City corresponds to $101,990 in Ogden.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Boise City
- 96.2
- Ogden
- 96.4
Diff +0.3 RPP
Services
- Boise City
- 70.7
- Ogden
- 78.8
Diff +8.1 RPP
Rents
- Boise City
- 105.6
- Ogden
- 117.9
Diff +12.3 RPP
| Category | Boise City | Ogden | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.4 | 100.3 | +2.0 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 96.4 | +0.3 |
| Services | 70.7 | 78.8 | +8.1 |
| Rents | 105.6 | 117.9 | +12.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Boise City 98.4
Ogden 100.3
Goods
Boise City 96.2
Ogden 96.4
Services
Boise City 70.7
Ogden 78.8
Rents
Boise City 105.6
Ogden 117.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Boise City and Ogden share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 0.2 to 2.0 RPP points. Ogden remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 15.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (3.1 to 12.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Boise City RPP | Ogden RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.3 | 95.0 | 0.2 points Boise City higher |
| 2012 | 96.7 | 100.9 | 4.3 points Ogden higher |
| 2016 | 93.2 | 96.3 | 3.1 points Ogden higher |
| 2020 | 93.6 | 95.8 | 2.1 points Ogden higher |
| 2024 | 98.4 | 100.3 | 2.0 points Ogden 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Boise City would need to be in Ogden for the same purchasing power:
| In Boise City | In Ogden | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,995 | +$995 |
| $75,000 | $76,493 | +$1,493 |
| $100,000 | $101,990 | +$1,990 |
| $150,000 | $152,985 | +$2,985 |
$ in Boise City = in Ogden
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.4 → 100.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Ogden more expensive than Boise City?
Ogden is 2% more expensive than Boise City. The overall cost index is 100.3 vs 98.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Ogden equals $100K in Boise City?
A $100,000 salary in Boise City has the same purchasing power as $101,990 in Ogden. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Boise City and Ogden?
Rents in Boise City are indexed at 105.6 while Ogden is at 117.9 (national average = 100). Ogden 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.