Overall
- Missoula
- 96.4
- Boise City
- 98.4
Diff +1.9 RPP
Missoula vs Boise City
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Boise City is 2% more expensive than Missoula.
2% more expensive
Boise City, ID is 2% more expensive than Missoula, MT on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.4 vs 96.4). A $100,000 salary in Missoula buys about the same as $102,018 in Boise City; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 96.4 (Missoula) vs 98.4 (Boise City)
- $100k in Missoula ≈ $102,018 purchasing power in Boise City
- Rents drives the gap (+10.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MT:ID 96.4→98.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MT × ID
- 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.
Missoula
96.4
Cost Index
Boise City
98.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Missoula, MT and Boise City, ID 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 creates the largest separation: Boise City is 10.6 points higher. But services 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 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 Missoula corresponds to $102,018 in Boise City.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Missoula
- 96.0
- Boise City
- 96.2
Diff +0.2 RPP
Services
- Missoula
- 72.1
- Boise City
- 70.7
Diff -1.4 RPP
Rents
- Missoula
- 94.9
- Boise City
- 105.6
Diff +10.6 RPP
| Category | Missoula | Boise City | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 96.4 | 98.4 | +1.9 |
| Goods | 96.0 | 96.2 | +0.2 |
| Services | 72.1 | 70.7 | -1.4 |
| Rents | 94.9 | 105.6 | +10.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Missoula 96.4
Boise City 98.4
Goods
Missoula 96.0
Boise City 96.2
Services
Missoula 72.1
Boise City 70.7
Rents
Missoula 94.9
Boise City 105.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Missoula and Boise City share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.7 to 1.9 RPP points. Boise City remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Goods changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 6.7 points between the first and latest shared releases (6.5 to 0.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Missoula RPP | Boise City RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 98.0 | 95.3 | 2.7 points Missoula higher |
| 2012 | 93.9 | 96.7 | 2.8 points Boise City higher |
| 2016 | 95.8 | 93.2 | 2.6 points Missoula higher |
| 2020 | 93.9 | 93.6 | 0.3 points Missoula higher |
| 2024 | 96.4 | 98.4 | 1.9 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Missoula would need to be in Boise City for the same purchasing power:
| In Missoula | In Boise City | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,009 | +$1,009 |
| $75,000 | $76,513 | +$1,513 |
| $100,000 | $102,018 | +$2,018 |
| $150,000 | $153,027 | +$3,027 |
$ in Missoula = in Boise City
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (96.4 → 98.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Boise City more expensive than Missoula?
Boise City is 2% more expensive than Missoula. The overall cost index is 98.4 vs 96.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Boise City equals $100K in Missoula?
A $100,000 salary in Missoula has the same purchasing power as $102,018 in Boise City. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Missoula and Boise City?
Rents in Missoula are indexed at 94.9 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.