Overall
- Helena
- 95.7
Diff -2.6 RPP
Prescott Valley-Prescott vs Helena
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Helena is 2.6% less expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott.
2.6% less expensive
Helena, MT is 2.6% less expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 95.7 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott buys about the same as $97,374 in Helena; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Prescott Valley-Prescott) vs 95.7 (Helena)
- $100k in Prescott Valley-Prescott ≈ $97,374 purchasing power in Helena
- Services drives the gap (-18.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AZ:MT 98.3→95.7
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE AZ × MT
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
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.
Helena, MT is 2.6% less expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.6-point overall gap.
Services leads the difference, with Helena 18.8 points lower than Prescott Valley-Prescott. 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 Prescott Valley-Prescott to $97,374 in Helena, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Prescott Valley-Prescott and Helena share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 7.0 to 2.6 RPP points. Prescott Valley-Prescott remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 24.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (33.5 to 8.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Prescott Valley-Prescott RPP | Helena RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 103.0 | 96.0 | 7.0 points Prescott Valley-Prescott higher |
| 2012 | 96.5 | 92.0 | 4.6 points Prescott Valley-Prescott higher |
| 2016 | 98.6 | 95.6 | 3.0 points Prescott Valley-Prescott higher |
| 2020 | 93.2 | 92.0 | 1.2 points Prescott Valley-Prescott higher |
| 2024 | 98.3 | 95.7 | 2.6 points Prescott Valley-Prescott 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Helena
- 96.0
Diff -0.2 RPP
Services
- Helena
- 72.6
Diff -18.8 RPP
Rents
- Helena
- 90.1
Diff -8.6 RPP
| Category | Prescott Valley-Prescott | Helena | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 95.7 | -2.6 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 96.0 | -0.2 |
| Services | 91.5 | 72.6 | -18.8 |
| Rents | 98.8 | 90.1 | -8.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.3
Helena 95.7
Goods
Prescott Valley-Prescott 96.2
Helena 96.0
Services
Prescott Valley-Prescott 91.5
Helena 72.6
Rents
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.8
Helena 90.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott would need to be in Helena for the same purchasing power:
| In Prescott Valley-Prescott | In Helena | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,687 | $-1,313 |
| $75,000 | $73,031 | $-1,969 |
| $100,000 | $97,374 | $-2,626 |
| $150,000 | $146,061 | $-3,939 |
$ in Prescott Valley-Prescott = in Helena
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 95.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Prescott Valley-Prescott
98.3
Cost Index
Helena
95.7
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Helena more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott?
Helena is 2.6% less expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott. The overall cost index is 95.7 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Helena equals $100K in Prescott Valley-Prescott?
A $100,000 salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott has the same purchasing power as $97,374 in Helena. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Prescott Valley-Prescott and Helena?
Rents in Prescott Valley-Prescott are indexed at 98.8 while Helena is at 90.1 (national average = 100). Prescott Valley-Prescott 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.