Overall
- Great Falls
- 96.8
- Santa Fe
- 98.8
Diff +1.9 RPP
Great Falls vs Santa Fe
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Santa Fe is 2% more expensive than Great Falls.
2% more expensive
Santa Fe, NM is 2% more expensive than Great Falls, MT on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.8 vs 96.8). A $100,000 salary in Great Falls buys about the same as $101,985 in Santa Fe; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 96.8 (Great Falls) vs 98.8 (Santa Fe)
- $100k in Great Falls ≈ $101,985 purchasing power in Santa Fe
- Rents drives the gap (+10.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MT:NM 96.8→98.8
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MT × NM
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
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.
Great Falls
96.8
Cost Index
Santa Fe
98.8
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Great Falls, MT and Santa Fe, NM are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.9 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents leads the difference, with Santa Fe 10.9 points higher than Great Falls. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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.
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 Great Falls corresponds to $101,985 in Santa Fe.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Great Falls
- 96.0
- Santa Fe
- 96.1
Diff +0.1 RPP
Services
- Great Falls
- 73.0
- Santa Fe
- 76.7
Diff +3.7 RPP
Rents
- Great Falls
- 97.1
- Santa Fe
- 108.0
Diff +10.9 RPP
| Category | Great Falls | Santa Fe | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 96.8 | 98.8 | +1.9 |
| Goods | 96.0 | 96.1 | +0.1 |
| Services | 73.0 | 76.7 | +3.7 |
| Rents | 97.1 | 108.0 | +10.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Great Falls 96.8
Santa Fe 98.8
Goods
Great Falls 96.0
Santa Fe 96.1
Services
Great Falls 73.0
Santa Fe 76.7
Rents
Great Falls 97.1
Santa Fe 108.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Great Falls and Santa Fe share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 12.8 to 1.9 RPP points. Santa Fe remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 53.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (64.2 to 10.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Great Falls RPP | Santa Fe RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 85.3 | 98.0 | 12.8 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2012 | 92.3 | 102.1 | 9.8 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2016 | 88.0 | 98.4 | 10.4 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2020 | 87.0 | 96.6 | 9.6 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2024 | 96.8 | 98.8 | 1.9 points Santa Fe 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Great Falls would need to be in Santa Fe for the same purchasing power:
| In Great Falls | In Santa Fe | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,992 | +$992 |
| $75,000 | $76,488 | +$1,488 |
| $100,000 | $101,985 | +$1,985 |
| $150,000 | $152,977 | +$2,977 |
$ in Great Falls = in Santa Fe
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (96.8 → 98.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Santa Fe more expensive than Great Falls?
Santa Fe is 2% more expensive than Great Falls. The overall cost index is 98.8 vs 96.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Santa Fe equals $100K in Great Falls?
A $100,000 salary in Great Falls has the same purchasing power as $101,985 in Santa Fe. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Great Falls and Santa Fe?
Rents in Great Falls are indexed at 97.1 while Santa Fe is at 108.0 (national average = 100). Santa Fe 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.