Overall
- Bozeman
- 102.5
Diff +4.3 RPP
Prescott Valley-Prescott vs Bozeman
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Bozeman is 4.3% more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott.
4.3% more expensive
Bozeman, MT is 4.3% more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 102.5 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott buys about the same as $104,331 in Bozeman; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Prescott Valley-Prescott) vs 102.5 (Bozeman)
- $100k in Prescott Valley-Prescott ≈ $104,331 purchasing power in Bozeman
- Rents drives the gap (+40.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AZ:MT 98.3→102.5
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE AZ × MT
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Bozeman
- 96.0
Diff -0.2 RPP
Services
- Bozeman
- 73.6
Diff -17.8 RPP
Rents
- Bozeman
- 139.2
Diff +40.4 RPP
| Category | Prescott Valley-Prescott | Bozeman | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 102.5 | +4.3 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 96.0 | -0.2 |
| Services | 91.5 | 73.6 | -17.8 |
| Rents | 98.8 | 139.2 | +40.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.3
Bozeman 102.5
Goods
Prescott Valley-Prescott 96.2
Bozeman 96.0
Services
Prescott Valley-Prescott 91.5
Bozeman 73.6
Rents
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.8
Bozeman 139.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Bozeman is 40.4 points higher. But services and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Bozeman, MT is 4.3% more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 4.3-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Bozeman is above 100 while Prescott Valley-Prescott is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 Prescott Valley-Prescott corresponds to $104,331 in Bozeman.
Prescott Valley-Prescott
98.3
Cost Index
Bozeman
102.5
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott would need to be in Bozeman for the same purchasing power:
| In Prescott Valley-Prescott | In Bozeman | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,165 | +$2,165 |
| $75,000 | $78,248 | +$3,248 |
| $100,000 | $104,331 | +$4,331 |
| $150,000 | $156,496 | +$6,496 |
$ in Prescott Valley-Prescott = in Bozeman
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 102.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bozeman more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott?
Bozeman is 4.3% more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott. The overall cost index is 102.5 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Bozeman equals $100K in Prescott Valley-Prescott?
A $100,000 salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott has the same purchasing power as $104,331 in Bozeman. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Prescott Valley-Prescott and Bozeman?
Rents in Prescott Valley-Prescott are indexed at 98.8 while Bozeman is at 139.2 (national average = 100). Bozeman 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.