Overall
- Idaho Falls
- 94.4
- Lewiston-Auburn
- 94.7
Diff +0.3 RPP
Idaho Falls vs Lewiston-Auburn
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lewiston-Auburn is 0.3% more expensive than Idaho Falls.
0.3% more expensive
Lewiston-Auburn, ME is 0.3% more expensive than Idaho Falls, ID on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 94.7 vs 94.4). A $100,000 salary in Idaho Falls buys about the same as $100,343 in Lewiston-Auburn; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 94.4 (Idaho Falls) vs 94.7 (Lewiston-Auburn)
- $100k in Idaho Falls ≈ $100,343 purchasing power in Lewiston-Auburn
- Services drives the gap (+64.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair ID:ME 94.4→94.7
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE ID × ME
- 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.
Idaho Falls
94.4
Cost Index
Lewiston-Auburn
94.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Idaho Falls, ID and Lewiston-Auburn, ME are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Lewiston-Auburn is 64.7 points higher. 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 Idaho Falls to $100,343 in Lewiston-Auburn, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Idaho Falls
- 96.2
- Lewiston-Auburn
- 97.2
Diff +1.0 RPP
Services
- Idaho Falls
- 69.7
- Lewiston-Auburn
- 134.4
Diff +64.7 RPP
Rents
- Idaho Falls
- 84.0
- Lewiston-Auburn
- 69.0
Diff -15.0 RPP
| Category | Idaho Falls | Lewiston-Auburn | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 94.4 | 94.7 | +0.3 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 97.2 | +1.0 |
| Services | 69.7 | 134.4 | +64.7 |
| Rents | 84.0 | 69.0 | -15.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Idaho Falls 94.4
Lewiston-Auburn 94.7
Goods
Idaho Falls 96.2
Lewiston-Auburn 97.2
Services
Idaho Falls 69.7
Lewiston-Auburn 134.4
Rents
Idaho Falls 84.0
Lewiston-Auburn 69.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Idaho Falls and Lewiston-Auburn share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.5 to 0.3 RPP points. Lewiston-Auburn remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 18.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (3.5 to 15.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Idaho Falls RPP | Lewiston-Auburn RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.2 | 97.7 | 2.5 points Lewiston-Auburn higher |
| 2012 | 93.2 | 98.8 | 5.6 points Lewiston-Auburn higher |
| 2016 | 95.4 | 96.6 | 1.2 points Lewiston-Auburn higher |
| 2020 | 90.9 | 99.7 | 8.7 points Lewiston-Auburn higher |
| 2024 | 94.4 | 94.7 | 0.3 points Lewiston-Auburn 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 Idaho Falls would need to be in Lewiston-Auburn for the same purchasing power:
| In Idaho Falls | In Lewiston-Auburn | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,172 | +$172 |
| $75,000 | $75,257 | +$257 |
| $100,000 | $100,343 | +$343 |
| $150,000 | $150,515 | +$515 |
$ in Idaho Falls = in Lewiston-Auburn
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (94.4 → 94.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lewiston-Auburn more expensive than Idaho Falls?
Lewiston-Auburn is 0.3% more expensive than Idaho Falls. The overall cost index is 94.7 vs 94.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lewiston-Auburn equals $100K in Idaho Falls?
A $100,000 salary in Idaho Falls has the same purchasing power as $100,343 in Lewiston-Auburn. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Idaho Falls and Lewiston-Auburn?
Rents in Idaho Falls are indexed at 84.0 while Lewiston-Auburn is at 69.0 (national average = 100). Idaho 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.