Overall
- Coeur d'Alene
- 98.3
- New Orleans-Metairie
- 92.6
Diff -5.7 RPP
Coeur d'Alene vs New Orleans-Metairie
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. New Orleans-Metairie is 5.8% less expensive than Coeur d'Alene.
5.8% less expensive
New Orleans-Metairie, LA is 5.8% less expensive than Coeur d'Alene, ID on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.6 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Coeur d'Alene buys about the same as $94,205 in New Orleans-Metairie; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Coeur d'Alene) vs 92.6 (New Orleans-Metairie)
- $100k in Coeur d'Alene ≈ $94,205 purchasing power in New Orleans-Metairie
- Rents drives the gap (-19.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair ID:LA 98.3→92.6
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE ID × LA
- 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
- New Orleans-Metairie
- 93.7
Diff -2.5 RPP
Services
- Coeur d'Alene
- 70.8
- New Orleans-Metairie
- 71.2
Diff +0.5 RPP
Rents
- Coeur d'Alene
- 105.6
- New Orleans-Metairie
- 86.0
Diff -19.6 RPP
| Category | Coeur d'Alene | New Orleans-Metairie | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 92.6 | -5.7 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 93.7 | -2.5 |
| Services | 70.8 | 71.2 | +0.5 |
| Rents | 105.6 | 86.0 | -19.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Coeur d'Alene 98.3
New Orleans-Metairie 92.6
Goods
Coeur d'Alene 96.2
New Orleans-Metairie 93.7
Services
Coeur d'Alene 70.8
New Orleans-Metairie 71.2
Rents
Coeur d'Alene 105.6
New Orleans-Metairie 86.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: New Orleans-Metairie is 19.6 points lower. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
New Orleans-Metairie, LA is 5.8% less expensive than Coeur d'Alene, ID, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.7-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 $94,205 in New Orleans-Metairie.
Coeur d'Alene
98.3
Cost Index
New Orleans-Metairie
92.6
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Coeur d'Alene would need to be in New Orleans-Metairie for the same purchasing power:
| In Coeur d'Alene | In New Orleans-Metairie | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $47,103 | $-2,897 |
| $75,000 | $70,654 | $-4,346 |
| $100,000 | $94,205 | $-5,795 |
| $150,000 | $141,308 | $-8,692 |
$ in Coeur d'Alene = in New Orleans-Metairie
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 92.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Coeur d'Alene and New Orleans-Metairie share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 0.1 to 5.7 RPP points. Coeur d'Alene remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 32.7 points between the first and latest shared releases (13.1 to 19.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Coeur d'Alene RPP | New Orleans-Metairie RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 98.1 | 98.2 | 0.1 points New Orleans-Metairie higher |
| 2012 | 94.9 | 97.9 | 3.0 points New Orleans-Metairie higher |
| 2016 | 97.5 | 98.2 | 0.7 points New Orleans-Metairie higher |
| 2020 | 93.0 | 95.7 | 2.7 points New Orleans-Metairie higher |
| 2024 | 98.3 | 92.6 | 5.7 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 New Orleans-Metairie more expensive than Coeur d'Alene?
New Orleans-Metairie is 5.8% less expensive than Coeur d'Alene. The overall cost index is 92.6 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in New Orleans-Metairie equals $100K in Coeur d'Alene?
A $100,000 salary in Coeur d'Alene has the same purchasing power as $94,205 in New Orleans-Metairie. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Coeur d'Alene and New Orleans-Metairie?
Rents in Coeur d'Alene are indexed at 105.6 while New Orleans-Metairie is at 86.0 (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.