Overall
- Coeur d'Alene
- 98.3
- Bozeman
- 102.5
Diff +4.2 RPP
Coeur d'Alene vs Bozeman
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Bozeman is 4.3% more expensive than Coeur d'Alene.
4.3% more expensive
Bozeman, MT is 4.3% more expensive than Coeur d'Alene, ID on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 102.5 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Coeur d'Alene buys about the same as $104,290 in Bozeman; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Coeur d'Alene) vs 102.5 (Bozeman)
- $100k in Coeur d'Alene ≈ $104,290 purchasing power in Bozeman
- Rents drives the gap (+33.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair ID:MT 98.3→102.5
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE ID × MT
- 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
- Coeur d'Alene
- 96.2
- Bozeman
- 96.0
Diff -0.2 RPP
Services
- Coeur d'Alene
- 70.8
- Bozeman
- 73.6
Diff +2.9 RPP
Rents
- Coeur d'Alene
- 105.6
- Bozeman
- 139.2
Diff +33.6 RPP
| Category | Coeur d'Alene | Bozeman | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 102.5 | +4.2 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 96.0 | -0.2 |
| Services | 70.8 | 73.6 | +2.9 |
| Rents | 105.6 | 139.2 | +33.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Coeur d'Alene 98.3
Bozeman 102.5
Goods
Coeur d'Alene 96.2
Bozeman 96.0
Services
Coeur d'Alene 70.8
Bozeman 73.6
Rents
Coeur d'Alene 105.6
Bozeman 139.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Bozeman is 33.6 points higher. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Bozeman, MT is 4.3% more expensive than Coeur d'Alene, ID, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 4.2-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Bozeman is above 100 while Coeur d'Alene 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 Coeur d'Alene corresponds to $104,290 in Bozeman.
Coeur d'Alene
98.3
Cost Index
Bozeman
102.5
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Coeur d'Alene would need to be in Bozeman for the same purchasing power:
| In Coeur d'Alene | In Bozeman | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,145 | +$2,145 |
| $75,000 | $78,218 | +$3,218 |
| $100,000 | $104,290 | +$4,290 |
| $150,000 | $156,435 | +$6,435 |
$ in Coeur d'Alene = in Bozeman
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 102.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Coeur d'Alene and Bozeman share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 0.7 to 4.2 RPP points. Bozeman remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 32.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (1.1 to 33.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Coeur d'Alene RPP | Bozeman RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 98.1 | 98.8 | 0.7 points Bozeman higher |
| 2012 | 94.9 | 97.1 | 2.2 points Bozeman higher |
| 2016 | 97.5 | 97.5 | 0.0 points Coeur d'Alene higher |
| 2020 | 93.0 | 96.5 | 3.4 points Bozeman higher |
| 2024 | 98.3 | 102.5 | 4.2 points Bozeman 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 Bozeman more expensive than Coeur d'Alene?
Bozeman is 4.3% more expensive than Coeur d'Alene. The overall cost index is 102.5 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Bozeman equals $100K in Coeur d'Alene?
A $100,000 salary in Coeur d'Alene has the same purchasing power as $104,290 in Bozeman. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Coeur d'Alene and Bozeman?
Rents in Coeur d'Alene are indexed at 105.6 while Bozeman is at 139.2 (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.