Overall
- Charlottesville
- 99.1
- Boise City
- 98.4
Diff -0.8 RPP
Charlottesville vs Boise City
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Boise City is 0.8% less expensive than Charlottesville.
0.8% less expensive
Boise City, ID is 0.8% less expensive than Charlottesville, VA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.4 vs 99.1). A $100,000 salary in Charlottesville buys about the same as $99,238 in Boise City; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 99.1 (Charlottesville) vs 98.4 (Boise City)
- $100k in Charlottesville ≈ $99,238 purchasing power in Boise City
- Services drives the gap (-18.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair VA:ID 99.1→98.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE VA × ID
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- 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.
Charlottesville
99.1
Cost Index
Boise City
98.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Charlottesville, VA and Boise City, ID are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.8 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services leads the difference, with Boise City 18.3 points lower than Charlottesville. 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.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
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 Charlottesville to $99,238 in Boise City, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Charlottesville
- 96.8
- Boise City
- 96.2
Diff -0.6 RPP
Services
- Charlottesville
- 89.0
- Boise City
- 70.7
Diff -18.3 RPP
Rents
- Charlottesville
- 107.0
- Boise City
- 105.6
Diff -1.5 RPP
| Category | Charlottesville | Boise City | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 99.1 | 98.4 | -0.8 |
| Goods | 96.8 | 96.2 | -0.6 |
| Services | 89.0 | 70.7 | -18.3 |
| Rents | 107.0 | 105.6 | -1.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Charlottesville 99.1
Boise City 98.4
Goods
Charlottesville 96.8
Boise City 96.2
Services
Charlottesville 89.0
Boise City 70.7
Rents
Charlottesville 107.0
Boise City 105.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Charlottesville would need to be in Boise City for the same purchasing power:
| In Charlottesville | In Boise City | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,619 | $-381 |
| $75,000 | $74,429 | $-571 |
| $100,000 | $99,238 | $-762 |
| $150,000 | $148,858 | $-1,142 |
$ in Charlottesville = in Boise City
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (99.1 → 98.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Boise City more expensive than Charlottesville?
Boise City is 0.8% less expensive than Charlottesville. The overall cost index is 98.4 vs 99.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Boise City equals $100K in Charlottesville?
A $100,000 salary in Charlottesville has the same purchasing power as $99,238 in Boise City. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Charlottesville and Boise City?
Rents in Charlottesville are indexed at 107.0 while Boise City is at 105.6 (national average = 100). Charlottesville 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.