Overall
- Boise City
- 98.4
- Worcester
- 102.5
Diff +4.1 RPP
Boise City vs Worcester
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Worcester is 4.2% more expensive than Boise City.
4.2% more expensive
Worcester, MA is 4.2% more expensive than Boise City, ID on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 102.5 vs 98.4). A $100,000 salary in Boise City buys about the same as $104,200 in Worcester; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.4 (Boise City) vs 102.5 (Worcester)
- $100k in Boise City ≈ $104,200 purchasing power in Worcester
- Services drives the gap (+84.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair ID:MA 98.4→102.5
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE ID × MA
- 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
Worcester, MA is 4.2% more expensive than Boise City, ID, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 4.1-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Worcester 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 Worcester 84.5 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 $104,200 in Worcester, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Boise City
- 96.2
- Worcester
- 97.0
Diff +0.8 RPP
Services
- Boise City
- 70.7
- Worcester
- 155.2
Diff +84.5 RPP
Rents
- Boise City
- 105.6
- Worcester
- 113.0
Diff +7.4 RPP
| Category | Boise City | Worcester | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.4 | 102.5 | +4.1 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 97.0 | +0.8 |
| Services | 70.7 | 155.2 | +84.5 |
| Rents | 105.6 | 113.0 | +7.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Boise City 98.4
Worcester 102.5
Goods
Boise City 96.2
Worcester 97.0
Services
Boise City 70.7
Worcester 155.2
Rents
Boise City 105.6
Worcester 113.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Boise City would need to be in Worcester for the same purchasing power:
| In Boise City | In Worcester | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,100 | +$2,100 |
| $75,000 | $78,150 | +$3,150 |
| $100,000 | $104,200 | +$4,200 |
| $150,000 | $156,299 | +$6,299 |
$ in Boise City = in Worcester
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.4 → 102.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Boise City
98.4
Cost Index
Worcester
102.5
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Worcester more expensive than Boise City?
Worcester is 4.2% more expensive than Boise City. The overall cost index is 102.5 vs 98.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Worcester equals $100K in Boise City?
A $100,000 salary in Boise City has the same purchasing power as $104,200 in Worcester. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Boise City and Worcester?
Rents in Boise City are indexed at 105.6 while Worcester is at 113.0 (national average = 100). Worcester 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.