Overall
- Cape Coral-Fort Myers
- 102.3
- Boise City
- 98.4
Diff -4.0 RPP
Cape Coral-Fort Myers vs Boise City
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Boise City is 3.9% less expensive than Cape Coral-Fort Myers.
3.9% less expensive
Boise City, ID is 3.9% less expensive than Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.4 vs 102.3). A $100,000 salary in Cape Coral-Fort Myers buys about the same as $96,133 in Boise City; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 102.3 (Cape Coral-Fort Myers) vs 98.4 (Boise City)
- $100k in Cape Coral-Fort Myers ≈ $96,133 purchasing power in Boise City
- Rents drives the gap (-19.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:ID 102.3→98.4
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE FL × ID
- RENT-LED Rent-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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Cape Coral-Fort Myers would need to be in Boise City for the same purchasing power:
| In Cape Coral-Fort Myers | In Boise City | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,066 | $-1,934 |
| $75,000 | $72,100 | $-2,900 |
| $100,000 | $96,133 | $-3,867 |
| $150,000 | $144,199 | $-5,801 |
$ in Cape Coral-Fort Myers = in Boise City
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (102.3 → 98.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Boise City, ID is 3.9% less expensive than Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 4.0-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Cape Coral-Fort Myers is above 100 while Boise City is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Boise City 19.5 points lower than Cape Coral-Fort Myers. 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 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 Cape Coral-Fort Myers corresponds to $96,133 in Boise City.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Boise City
- 96.2
Diff -0.1 RPP
Services
- Boise City
- 70.7
Diff -16.2 RPP
Rents
- Cape Coral-Fort Myers
- 125.1
- Boise City
- 105.6
Diff -19.5 RPP
| Category | Cape Coral-Fort Myers | Boise City | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 102.3 | 98.4 | -4.0 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 96.2 | -0.1 |
| Services | 86.9 | 70.7 | -16.2 |
| Rents | 125.1 | 105.6 | -19.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Cape Coral-Fort Myers 102.3
Boise City 98.4
Goods
Cape Coral-Fort Myers 96.2
Boise City 96.2
Services
Cape Coral-Fort Myers 86.9
Boise City 70.7
Rents
Cape Coral-Fort Myers 125.1
Boise City 105.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Cape Coral-Fort Myers
102.3
Cost Index
Boise City
98.4
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Cape Coral-Fort Myers and Boise City share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 4.7 to 4.0 RPP points. Cape Coral-Fort Myers remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 8.7 points between the first and latest shared releases (24.9 to 16.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Cape Coral-Fort Myers RPP | Boise City RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.9 | 95.3 | 4.7 points Cape Coral-Fort Myers higher |
| 2012 | 97.9 | 96.7 | 1.2 points Cape Coral-Fort Myers higher |
| 2016 | 101.0 | 93.2 | 7.9 points Cape Coral-Fort Myers higher |
| 2020 | 98.1 | 93.6 | 4.5 points Cape Coral-Fort Myers higher |
| 2024 | 102.3 | 98.4 | 4.0 points Cape Coral-Fort Myers 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Boise City more expensive than Cape Coral-Fort Myers?
Boise City is 3.9% less expensive than Cape Coral-Fort Myers. The overall cost index is 98.4 vs 102.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Boise City equals $100K in Cape Coral-Fort Myers?
A $100,000 salary in Cape Coral-Fort Myers has the same purchasing power as $96,133 in Boise City. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Cape Coral-Fort Myers and Boise City?
Rents in Cape Coral-Fort Myers are indexed at 125.1 while Boise City is at 105.6 (national average = 100). Cape Coral-Fort Myers 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.