Overall
- Bozeman
- 102.5
- Boise City
- 98.4
Diff -4.1 RPP
Bozeman vs Boise City
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Boise City is 4% less expensive than Bozeman.
4% less expensive
Boise City, ID is 4% less expensive than Bozeman, MT on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.4 vs 102.5). A $100,000 salary in Bozeman buys about the same as $95,982 in Boise City; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 102.5 (Bozeman) vs 98.4 (Boise City)
- $100k in Bozeman ≈ $95,982 purchasing power in Boise City
- Rents drives the gap (-33.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MT:ID 102.5→98.4
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE MT × ID
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Bozeman
- 96.0
- Boise City
- 96.2
Diff +0.2 RPP
Services
- Bozeman
- 73.6
- Boise City
- 70.7
Diff -2.9 RPP
Rents
- Bozeman
- 139.2
- Boise City
- 105.6
Diff -33.6 RPP
| Category | Bozeman | Boise City | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 102.5 | 98.4 | -4.1 |
| Goods | 96.0 | 96.2 | +0.2 |
| Services | 73.6 | 70.7 | -2.9 |
| Rents | 139.2 | 105.6 | -33.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Bozeman 102.5
Boise City 98.4
Goods
Bozeman 96.0
Boise City 96.2
Services
Bozeman 73.6
Boise City 70.7
Rents
Bozeman 139.2
Boise City 105.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Boise City is 33.6 points lower. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Boise City, ID is 4% less expensive than Bozeman, MT, 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: Bozeman is above 100 while Boise City is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 Bozeman corresponds to $95,982 in Boise City.
Bozeman
102.5
Cost Index
Boise City
98.4
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Bozeman would need to be in Boise City for the same purchasing power:
| In Bozeman | In Boise City | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $47,991 | $-2,009 |
| $75,000 | $71,986 | $-3,014 |
| $100,000 | $95,982 | $-4,018 |
| $150,000 | $143,973 | $-6,027 |
$ in Bozeman = in Boise City
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (102.5 → 98.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Boise City more expensive than Bozeman?
Boise City is 4% less expensive than Bozeman. The overall cost index is 98.4 vs 102.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Boise City equals $100K in Bozeman?
A $100,000 salary in Bozeman has the same purchasing power as $95,982 in Boise City. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Bozeman and Boise City?
Rents in Bozeman are indexed at 139.2 while Boise City is at 105.6 (national average = 100). Bozeman 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.