Overall
- Boise City
- 98.4
Diff -10.2 RPP
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles vs Boise City
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Boise City is 9.4% less expensive than San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles.
9.4% less expensive
Boise City, ID is 9.4% less expensive than San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.4 vs 108.6). A $100,000 salary in San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles buys about the same as $90,603 in Boise City; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 108.6 (San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles) vs 98.4 (Boise City)
- $100k in San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles ≈ $90,603 purchasing power in Boise City
- Services drives the gap (-77.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:ID 108.6→98.4
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE CA × 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
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA and Boise City, ID sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 10.2 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles 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 77.1 points lower than San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles. 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 San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles to $90,603 in Boise City, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles and Boise City share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 9.8 to 10.2 RPP points. San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 52.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (25.1 to 77.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles RPP | Boise City RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 105.1 | 95.3 | 9.8 points San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles higher |
| 2012 | 107.2 | 96.7 | 10.6 points San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles higher |
| 2016 | 105.0 | 93.2 | 11.8 points San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles higher |
| 2020 | 111.3 | 93.6 | 17.7 points San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles higher |
| 2024 | 108.6 | 98.4 | 10.2 points San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles 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
- Boise City
- 96.2
Diff -9.0 RPP
Services
- Boise City
- 70.7
Diff -77.1 RPP
Rents
- Boise City
- 105.6
Diff -38.8 RPP
| Category | San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles | Boise City | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 108.6 | 98.4 | -10.2 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 96.2 | -9.0 |
| Services | 147.8 | 70.7 | -77.1 |
| Rents | 144.4 | 105.6 | -38.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles 108.6
Boise City 98.4
Goods
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles 105.2
Boise City 96.2
Services
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles 147.8
Boise City 70.7
Rents
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles 144.4
Boise City 105.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles would need to be in Boise City for the same purchasing power:
| In San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles | In Boise City | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $45,301 | $-4,699 |
| $75,000 | $67,952 | $-7,048 |
| $100,000 | $90,603 | $-9,397 |
| $150,000 | $135,904 | $-14,096 |
$ in San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles = in Boise City
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (108.6 → 98.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles
108.6
Cost Index
Boise City
98.4
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Boise City more expensive than San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles?
Boise City is 9.4% less expensive than San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles. The overall cost index is 98.4 vs 108.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Boise City equals $100K in San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles?
A $100,000 salary in San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles has the same purchasing power as $90,603 in Boise City. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles and Boise City?
Rents in San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles are indexed at 144.4 while Boise City is at 105.6 (national average = 100). San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles 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.