Overall
- Coeur d'Alene
- 98.3
- Montgomery
- 89.7
Diff -8.6 RPP
Coeur d'Alene vs Montgomery
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Montgomery is 8.8% less expensive than Coeur d'Alene.
8.8% less expensive
Montgomery, AL is 8.8% less expensive than Coeur d'Alene, ID on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 89.7 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Coeur d'Alene buys about the same as $91,239 in Montgomery; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Coeur d'Alene) vs 89.7 (Montgomery)
- $100k in Coeur d'Alene ≈ $91,239 purchasing power in Montgomery
- Rents drives the gap (-41.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair ID:AL 98.3→89.7
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE ID × AL
- 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
- Montgomery
- 96.4
Diff +0.2 RPP
Services
- Coeur d'Alene
- 70.8
- Montgomery
- 84.9
Diff +14.1 RPP
Rents
- Coeur d'Alene
- 105.6
- Montgomery
- 64.3
Diff -41.3 RPP
| Category | Coeur d'Alene | Montgomery | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 89.7 | -8.6 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 96.4 | +0.2 |
| Services | 70.8 | 84.9 | +14.1 |
| Rents | 105.6 | 64.3 | -41.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Coeur d'Alene 98.3
Montgomery 89.7
Goods
Coeur d'Alene 96.2
Montgomery 96.4
Services
Coeur d'Alene 70.8
Montgomery 84.9
Rents
Coeur d'Alene 105.6
Montgomery 64.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Montgomery is 41.3 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.
Coeur d'Alene, ID and Montgomery, AL sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 8.6 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
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 $91,239 in Montgomery.
Coeur d'Alene
98.3
Cost Index
Montgomery
89.7
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Coeur d'Alene would need to be in Montgomery for the same purchasing power:
| In Coeur d'Alene | In Montgomery | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $45,620 | $-4,380 |
| $75,000 | $68,430 | $-6,570 |
| $100,000 | $91,239 | $-8,761 |
| $150,000 | $136,859 | $-13,141 |
$ in Coeur d'Alene = in Montgomery
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 89.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Coeur d'Alene and Montgomery share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 6.8 to 8.6 RPP points. Coeur d'Alene remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 18.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (22.7 to 41.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Coeur d'Alene RPP | Montgomery RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 98.1 | 91.3 | 6.8 points Coeur d'Alene higher |
| 2012 | 94.9 | 93.3 | 1.6 points Coeur d'Alene higher |
| 2016 | 97.5 | 93.1 | 4.4 points Coeur d'Alene higher |
| 2020 | 93.0 | 87.5 | 5.5 points Coeur d'Alene higher |
| 2024 | 98.3 | 89.7 | 8.6 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 Montgomery more expensive than Coeur d'Alene?
Montgomery is 8.8% less expensive than Coeur d'Alene. The overall cost index is 89.7 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Montgomery equals $100K in Coeur d'Alene?
A $100,000 salary in Coeur d'Alene has the same purchasing power as $91,239 in Montgomery. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Coeur d'Alene and Montgomery?
Rents in Coeur d'Alene are indexed at 105.6 while Montgomery is at 64.3 (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.