Overall
- Coeur d'Alene
- 98.3
- Athens-Clarke County
- 93.3
Diff -5.0 RPP
Coeur d'Alene vs Athens-Clarke County
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Athens-Clarke County is 5% less expensive than Coeur d'Alene.
5% less expensive
Athens-Clarke County, GA is 5% less expensive than Coeur d'Alene, ID on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 93.3 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Coeur d'Alene buys about the same as $94,964 in Athens-Clarke County; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Coeur d'Alene) vs 93.3 (Athens-Clarke County)
- $100k in Coeur d'Alene ≈ $94,964 purchasing power in Athens-Clarke County
- Rents drives the gap (-28.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair ID:GA 98.3→93.3
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE ID × GA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- 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
- Coeur d'Alene
- 96.2
- Athens-Clarke County
- 96.3
Diff +0.1 RPP
Services
- Coeur d'Alene
- 70.8
- Athens-Clarke County
- 89.3
Diff +18.5 RPP
Rents
- Coeur d'Alene
- 105.6
- Athens-Clarke County
- 76.8
Diff -28.8 RPP
| Category | Coeur d'Alene | Athens-Clarke County | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 93.3 | -5.0 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 96.3 | +0.1 |
| Services | 70.8 | 89.3 | +18.5 |
| Rents | 105.6 | 76.8 | -28.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Coeur d'Alene 98.3
Athens-Clarke County 93.3
Goods
Coeur d'Alene 96.2
Athens-Clarke County 96.3
Services
Coeur d'Alene 70.8
Athens-Clarke County 89.3
Rents
Coeur d'Alene 105.6
Athens-Clarke County 76.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Athens-Clarke County is 28.8 points lower. But services and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Athens-Clarke County, GA is 5% less expensive than Coeur d'Alene, ID, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.0-point overall gap.
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.
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 Coeur d'Alene corresponds to $94,964 in Athens-Clarke County.
Coeur d'Alene
98.3
Cost Index
Athens-Clarke County
93.3
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Coeur d'Alene would need to be in Athens-Clarke County for the same purchasing power:
| In Coeur d'Alene | In Athens-Clarke County | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $47,482 | $-2,518 |
| $75,000 | $71,223 | $-3,777 |
| $100,000 | $94,964 | $-5,036 |
| $150,000 | $142,446 | $-7,554 |
$ in Coeur d'Alene = in Athens-Clarke County
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 93.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Coeur d'Alene and Athens-Clarke County share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 3.9 to 5.0 RPP points. Coeur d'Alene remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 20.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (8.8 to 28.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Coeur d'Alene RPP | Athens-Clarke County RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 98.1 | 94.2 | 3.9 points Coeur d'Alene higher |
| 2012 | 94.9 | 93.3 | 1.5 points Coeur d'Alene higher |
| 2016 | 97.5 | 93.7 | 3.8 points Coeur d'Alene higher |
| 2020 | 93.0 | 90.2 | 2.8 points Coeur d'Alene higher |
| 2024 | 98.3 | 93.3 | 5.0 points Coeur d'Alene 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 Athens-Clarke County more expensive than Coeur d'Alene?
Athens-Clarke County is 5% less expensive than Coeur d'Alene. The overall cost index is 93.3 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Athens-Clarke County equals $100K in Coeur d'Alene?
A $100,000 salary in Coeur d'Alene has the same purchasing power as $94,964 in Athens-Clarke County. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Coeur d'Alene and Athens-Clarke County?
Rents in Coeur d'Alene are indexed at 105.6 while Athens-Clarke County is at 76.8 (national average = 100). Coeur d'Alene 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.