Overall
- Coeur d'Alene
- 98.3
- El Centro
- 95.2
Diff -3.1 RPP
Coeur d'Alene vs El Centro
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. El Centro is 3.2% less expensive than Coeur d'Alene.
3.2% less expensive
El Centro, CA is 3.2% less expensive than Coeur d'Alene, ID on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 95.2 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Coeur d'Alene buys about the same as $96,827 in El Centro; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Coeur d'Alene) vs 95.2 (El Centro)
- $100k in Coeur d'Alene ≈ $96,827 purchasing power in El Centro
- Services drives the gap (+86.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair ID:CA 98.3→95.2
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE ID × CA
- 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
- El Centro
- 105.2
Diff +9.0 RPP
Services
- Coeur d'Alene
- 70.8
- El Centro
- 157.2
Diff +86.4 RPP
Rents
- Coeur d'Alene
- 105.6
- El Centro
- 66.3
Diff -39.3 RPP
| Category | Coeur d'Alene | El Centro | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 95.2 | -3.1 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 105.2 | +9.0 |
| Services | 70.8 | 157.2 | +86.4 |
| Rents | 105.6 | 66.3 | -39.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Coeur d'Alene 98.3
El Centro 95.2
Goods
Coeur d'Alene 96.2
El Centro 105.2
Services
Coeur d'Alene 70.8
El Centro 157.2
Rents
Coeur d'Alene 105.6
El Centro 66.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: El Centro is 86.4 points higher. But services and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
El Centro, CA is 3.2% less expensive than Coeur d'Alene, ID, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.1-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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Coeur d'Alene to $96,827 in El Centro, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Coeur d'Alene
98.3
Cost Index
El Centro
95.2
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Coeur d'Alene would need to be in El Centro for the same purchasing power:
| In Coeur d'Alene | In El Centro | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,413 | $-1,587 |
| $75,000 | $72,620 | $-2,380 |
| $100,000 | $96,827 | $-3,173 |
| $150,000 | $145,240 | $-4,760 |
$ in Coeur d'Alene = in El Centro
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 95.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Coeur d'Alene and El Centro share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 2.9 to 3.1 RPP points. Coeur d'Alene remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 62.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (24.0 to 86.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Coeur d'Alene RPP | El Centro RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 98.1 | 95.3 | 2.9 points Coeur d'Alene higher |
| 2012 | 94.9 | 94.0 | 0.8 points Coeur d'Alene higher |
| 2016 | 97.5 | 95.7 | 1.8 points Coeur d'Alene higher |
| 2020 | 93.0 | 96.9 | 3.9 points El Centro higher |
| 2024 | 98.3 | 95.2 | 3.1 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 El Centro more expensive than Coeur d'Alene?
El Centro is 3.2% less expensive than Coeur d'Alene. The overall cost index is 95.2 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in El Centro equals $100K in Coeur d'Alene?
A $100,000 salary in Coeur d'Alene has the same purchasing power as $96,827 in El Centro. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Coeur d'Alene and El Centro?
Rents in Coeur d'Alene are indexed at 105.6 while El Centro is at 66.3 (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.