Overall
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 103.7
- Boise City
- 98.4
Diff -5.3 RPP
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater vs Boise City
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Boise City is 5.1% less expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater.
5.1% less expensive
Boise City, ID is 5.1% less expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.4 vs 103.7). A $100,000 salary in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater buys about the same as $94,908 in Boise City; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 103.7 (Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater) vs 98.4 (Boise City)
- $100k in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater ≈ $94,908 purchasing power in Boise City
- Services drives the gap (-21.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:ID 103.7→98.4
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE WA × ID
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Boise City, ID is 5.1% less expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.3-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is above 100 while Boise City is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Services leads the difference, with Boise City 21.0 points lower than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
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 Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater to $94,908 in Boise City, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 105.0
- Boise City
- 96.2
Diff -8.8 RPP
Services
- Boise City
- 70.7
Diff -21.0 RPP
Rents
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 116.7
- Boise City
- 105.6
Diff -11.1 RPP
| Category | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | Boise City | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.7 | 98.4 | -5.3 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 96.2 | -8.8 |
| Services | 91.7 | 70.7 | -21.0 |
| Rents | 116.7 | 105.6 | -11.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 103.7
Boise City 98.4
Goods
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 105.0
Boise City 96.2
Services
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 91.7
Boise City 70.7
Rents
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 116.7
Boise City 105.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater would need to be in Boise City for the same purchasing power:
| In Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | In Boise City | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $47,454 | $-2,546 |
| $75,000 | $71,181 | $-3,819 |
| $100,000 | $94,908 | $-5,092 |
| $150,000 | $142,362 | $-7,638 |
$ in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater = in Boise City
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.7 → 98.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
103.7
Cost Index
Boise City
98.4
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Boise City more expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater?
Boise City is 5.1% less expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater. The overall cost index is 98.4 vs 103.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Boise City equals $100K in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater?
A $100,000 salary in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater has the same purchasing power as $94,908 in Boise City. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater and Boise City?
Rents in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater are indexed at 116.7 while Boise City is at 105.6 (national average = 100). Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 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.