Overall
- Boulder
- 105.2
Diff -7.4 RPP
New York-Newark-Jersey City vs Boulder
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Boulder is 6.5% less expensive than New York-Newark-Jersey City.
6.5% less expensive
Boulder, CO is 6.5% less expensive than New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 105.2 vs 112.6). A $100,000 salary in New York-Newark-Jersey City buys about the same as $93,461 in Boulder; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 112.6 (New York-Newark-Jersey City) vs 105.2 (Boulder)
- $100k in New York-Newark-Jersey City ≈ $93,461 purchasing power in Boulder
- Services drives the gap (-44.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NY:CO 112.6→105.2
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE NY × CO
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 100
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Boulder
- 96.1
Diff -14.2 RPP
Services
- Boulder
- 82.7
Diff -44.3 RPP
Rents
- Boulder
- 157.0
Diff +8.4 RPP
| Category | New York-Newark-Jersey City | Boulder | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 112.6 | 105.2 | -7.4 |
| Goods | 110.3 | 96.1 | -14.2 |
| Services | 127.0 | 82.7 | -44.3 |
| Rents | 148.6 | 157.0 | +8.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
New York-Newark-Jersey City 112.6
Boulder 105.2
Goods
New York-Newark-Jersey City 110.3
Boulder 96.1
Services
New York-Newark-Jersey City 127.0
Boulder 82.7
Rents
New York-Newark-Jersey City 148.6
Boulder 157.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Boulder is 44.3 points lower. But rents move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Boulder, CO is 6.5% less expensive than New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 7.4-point overall gap.
Both metros exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 New York-Newark-Jersey City to $93,461 in Boulder, but it is not a personal spending weight.
New York-Newark-Jersey City
112.6
Cost Index
Boulder
105.2
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in New York-Newark-Jersey City would need to be in Boulder for the same purchasing power:
| In New York-Newark-Jersey City | In Boulder | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $46,730 | $-3,270 |
| $75,000 | $70,095 | $-4,905 |
| $100,000 | $93,461 | $-6,539 |
| $150,000 | $140,191 | $-9,809 |
$ in New York-Newark-Jersey City = in Boulder
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (112.6 → 105.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
New York-Newark-Jersey City and Boulder share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 5.0 to 7.4 RPP points. New York-Newark-Jersey City remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 29.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (21.0 to 8.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | New York-Newark-Jersey City RPP | Boulder RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 113.5 | 108.5 | 5.0 points New York-Newark-Jersey City higher |
| 2012 | 113.8 | 107.5 | 6.3 points New York-Newark-Jersey City higher |
| 2016 | 113.7 | 105.6 | 8.1 points New York-Newark-Jersey City higher |
| 2020 | 115.6 | 101.7 | 13.9 points New York-Newark-Jersey City higher |
| 2024 | 112.6 | 105.2 | 7.4 points New York-Newark-Jersey 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Boulder more expensive than New York-Newark-Jersey City?
Boulder is 6.5% less expensive than New York-Newark-Jersey City. The overall cost index is 105.2 vs 112.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Boulder equals $100K in New York-Newark-Jersey City?
A $100,000 salary in New York-Newark-Jersey City has the same purchasing power as $93,461 in Boulder. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between New York-Newark-Jersey City and Boulder?
Rents in New York-Newark-Jersey City are indexed at 148.6 while Boulder is at 157.0 (national average = 100). Boulder 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.