Overall
- Boise City
- 98.4
Diff -10.4 RPP
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara vs Boise City
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Boise City is 9.6% less expensive than Santa Maria-Santa Barbara.
9.6% less expensive
Boise City, ID is 9.6% less expensive than Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.4 vs 108.8). A $100,000 salary in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara buys about the same as $90,435 in Boise City; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 108.8 (Santa Maria-Santa Barbara) vs 98.4 (Boise City)
- $100k in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara ≈ $90,435 purchasing power in Boise City
- Services drives the gap (-79.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:ID 108.8→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
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA and Boise City, ID sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 10.4 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Santa Maria-Santa Barbara 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 79.1 points lower than Santa Maria-Santa Barbara. 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 Santa Maria-Santa Barbara to $90,435 in Boise City, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Boise City
- 96.2
Diff -9.0 RPP
Services
- Boise City
- 70.7
Diff -79.1 RPP
Rents
- Boise City
- 105.6
Diff -45.8 RPP
| Category | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara | Boise City | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 108.8 | 98.4 | -10.4 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 96.2 | -9.0 |
| Services | 149.8 | 70.7 | -79.1 |
| Rents | 151.4 | 105.6 | -45.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara 108.8
Boise City 98.4
Goods
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara 105.2
Boise City 96.2
Services
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara 149.8
Boise City 70.7
Rents
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara 151.4
Boise City 105.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara would need to be in Boise City for the same purchasing power:
| In Santa Maria-Santa Barbara | In Boise City | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $45,217 | $-4,783 |
| $75,000 | $67,826 | $-7,174 |
| $100,000 | $90,435 | $-9,565 |
| $150,000 | $135,652 | $-14,348 |
$ in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara = in Boise City
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (108.8 → 98.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara
108.8
Cost Index
Boise City
98.4
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Boise City more expensive than Santa Maria-Santa Barbara?
Boise City is 9.6% less expensive than Santa Maria-Santa Barbara. The overall cost index is 98.4 vs 108.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Boise City equals $100K in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara?
A $100,000 salary in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara has the same purchasing power as $90,435 in Boise City. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Santa Maria-Santa Barbara and Boise City?
Rents in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara are indexed at 151.4 while Boise City is at 105.6 (national average = 100). Santa Maria-Santa Barbara 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.