Overall
- Madison
- 97.3
- Great Falls
- 96.8
Diff -0.4 RPP
Madison vs Great Falls
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Great Falls is 0.5% less expensive than Madison.
0.5% less expensive
Great Falls, MT is 0.5% less expensive than Madison, WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 96.8 vs 97.3). A $100,000 salary in Madison buys about the same as $99,546 in Great Falls; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 97.3 (Madison) vs 96.8 (Great Falls)
- $100k in Madison ≈ $99,546 purchasing power in Great Falls
- Services drives the gap (-16.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WI:MT 97.3→96.8
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WI × 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.
Madison
97.3
Cost Index
Great Falls
96.8
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Madison, WI and Great Falls, MT are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.4 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 16.8 points lower. But goods 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 Madison to $99,546 in Great Falls, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Madison
- 93.8
- Great Falls
- 96.0
Diff +2.2 RPP
Services
- Madison
- 89.8
- Great Falls
- 73.0
Diff -16.8 RPP
Rents
- Madison
- 99.7
- Great Falls
- 97.1
Diff -2.6 RPP
| Category | Madison | Great Falls | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.3 | 96.8 | -0.4 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 96.0 | +2.2 |
| Services | 89.8 | 73.0 | -16.8 |
| Rents | 99.7 | 97.1 | -2.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Madison 97.3
Great Falls 96.8
Goods
Madison 93.8
Great Falls 96.0
Services
Madison 89.8
Great Falls 73.0
Rents
Madison 99.7
Great Falls 97.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Madison would need to be in Great Falls for the same purchasing power:
| In Madison | In Great Falls | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,773 | $-227 |
| $75,000 | $74,659 | $-341 |
| $100,000 | $99,546 | $-454 |
| $150,000 | $149,319 | $-681 |
$ in Madison = in Great Falls
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.3 → 96.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Great Falls more expensive than Madison?
Great Falls is 0.5% less expensive than Madison. The overall cost index is 96.8 vs 97.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Great Falls equals $100K in Madison?
A $100,000 salary in Madison has the same purchasing power as $99,546 in Great Falls. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Madison and Great Falls?
Rents in Madison are indexed at 99.7 while Great Falls is at 97.1 (national average = 100). Madison 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.