Overall
- Harrisburg-Carlisle
- 98.7
- Great Falls
- 96.8
Diff -1.8 RPP
Harrisburg-Carlisle vs Great Falls
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Great Falls is 1.8% less expensive than Harrisburg-Carlisle.
1.8% less expensive
Great Falls, MT is 1.8% less expensive than Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 96.8 vs 98.7). A $100,000 salary in Harrisburg-Carlisle buys about the same as $98,170 in Great Falls; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.7 (Harrisburg-Carlisle) vs 96.8 (Great Falls)
- $100k in Harrisburg-Carlisle ≈ $98,170 purchasing power in Great Falls
- Services drives the gap (-35.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair PA:MT 98.7→96.8
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE PA × MT
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- 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.
Harrisburg-Carlisle
98.7
Cost Index
Great Falls
96.8
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA and Great Falls, MT are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.8 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Great Falls is 35.0 points lower. But rents move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Harrisburg-Carlisle to $98,170 in Great Falls, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Harrisburg-Carlisle
- 100.7
- Great Falls
- 96.0
Diff -4.7 RPP
Services
- Harrisburg-Carlisle
- 108.1
- Great Falls
- 73.0
Diff -35.0 RPP
Rents
- Harrisburg-Carlisle
- 96.3
- Great Falls
- 97.1
Diff +0.8 RPP
| Category | Harrisburg-Carlisle | Great Falls | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.7 | 96.8 | -1.8 |
| Goods | 100.7 | 96.0 | -4.7 |
| Services | 108.1 | 73.0 | -35.0 |
| Rents | 96.3 | 97.1 | +0.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Harrisburg-Carlisle 98.7
Great Falls 96.8
Goods
Harrisburg-Carlisle 100.7
Great Falls 96.0
Services
Harrisburg-Carlisle 108.1
Great Falls 73.0
Rents
Harrisburg-Carlisle 96.3
Great Falls 97.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Harrisburg-Carlisle and Great Falls share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 13.7 to 1.8 RPP points. Harrisburg-Carlisle remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 46.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (46.0 to 0.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Harrisburg-Carlisle RPP | Great Falls RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.0 | 85.3 | 13.7 points Harrisburg-Carlisle higher |
| 2012 | 97.0 | 92.3 | 4.7 points Harrisburg-Carlisle higher |
| 2016 | 98.2 | 88.0 | 10.1 points Harrisburg-Carlisle higher |
| 2020 | 96.1 | 87.0 | 9.1 points Harrisburg-Carlisle higher |
| 2024 | 98.7 | 96.8 | 1.8 points Harrisburg-Carlisle 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 Harrisburg-Carlisle would need to be in Great Falls for the same purchasing power:
| In Harrisburg-Carlisle | In Great Falls | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,085 | $-915 |
| $75,000 | $73,628 | $-1,372 |
| $100,000 | $98,170 | $-1,830 |
| $150,000 | $147,255 | $-2,745 |
$ in Harrisburg-Carlisle = in Great Falls
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.7 → 96.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Great Falls more expensive than Harrisburg-Carlisle?
Great Falls is 1.8% less expensive than Harrisburg-Carlisle. The overall cost index is 96.8 vs 98.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Great Falls equals $100K in Harrisburg-Carlisle?
A $100,000 salary in Harrisburg-Carlisle has the same purchasing power as $98,170 in Great Falls. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Harrisburg-Carlisle and Great Falls?
Rents in Harrisburg-Carlisle are indexed at 96.3 while Great Falls is at 97.1 (national average = 100). Great Falls 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.