Overall
- Grand Forks
- 86.7
- Boise City
- 98.4
Diff +11.7 RPP
Grand Forks vs Boise City
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Boise City is 13.5% more expensive than Grand Forks.
13.5% more expensive
Boise City, ID is 13.5% more expensive than Grand Forks, ND-MN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.4 vs 86.7). A $100,000 salary in Grand Forks buys about the same as $113,533 in Boise City; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 86.7 (Grand Forks) vs 98.4 (Boise City)
- $100k in Grand Forks ≈ $113,533 purchasing power in Boise City
- Rents drives the gap (+45.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair ND:ID 86.7→98.4
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE ND × ID
- 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
- Grand Forks
- 95.6
- Boise City
- 96.2
Diff +0.5 RPP
Services
- Grand Forks
- 77.1
- Boise City
- 70.7
Diff -6.4 RPP
Rents
- Grand Forks
- 59.7
- Boise City
- 105.6
Diff +45.9 RPP
| Category | Grand Forks | Boise City | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 86.7 | 98.4 | +11.7 |
| Goods | 95.6 | 96.2 | +0.5 |
| Services | 77.1 | 70.7 | -6.4 |
| Rents | 59.7 | 105.6 | +45.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Grand Forks 86.7
Boise City 98.4
Goods
Grand Forks 95.6
Boise City 96.2
Services
Grand Forks 77.1
Boise City 70.7
Rents
Grand Forks 59.7
Boise City 105.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Boise City is 45.9 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Grand Forks, ND-MN and Boise City, ID sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 11.7 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 Grand Forks corresponds to $113,533 in Boise City.
Grand Forks
86.7
Cost Index
Boise City
98.4
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Grand Forks would need to be in Boise City for the same purchasing power:
| In Grand Forks | In Boise City | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $56,766 | +$6,766 |
| $75,000 | $85,150 | +$10,150 |
| $100,000 | $113,533 | +$13,533 |
| $150,000 | $170,299 | +$20,299 |
$ in Grand Forks = in Boise City
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (86.7 → 98.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Grand Forks and Boise City share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 0.4 to 11.7 RPP points. Boise City remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 32.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (13.8 to 45.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Grand Forks RPP | Boise City RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.6 | 95.3 | 0.4 points Grand Forks higher |
| 2012 | 89.7 | 96.7 | 7.0 points Boise City higher |
| 2016 | 92.2 | 93.2 | 1.0 points Boise City higher |
| 2020 | 91.2 | 93.6 | 2.4 points Boise City higher |
| 2024 | 86.7 | 98.4 | 11.7 points Boise City 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 Boise City more expensive than Grand Forks?
Boise City is 13.5% more expensive than Grand Forks. The overall cost index is 98.4 vs 86.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Boise City equals $100K in Grand Forks?
A $100,000 salary in Grand Forks has the same purchasing power as $113,533 in Boise City. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Grand Forks and Boise City?
Rents in Grand Forks are indexed at 59.7 while Boise City is at 105.6 (national average = 100). Boise City 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.