Overall
- Worcester
- 102.5
- Coeur d'Alene
- 98.3
Diff -4.2 RPP
Worcester vs Coeur d'Alene
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Coeur d'Alene is 4.1% less expensive than Worcester.
4.1% less expensive
Coeur d'Alene, ID is 4.1% less expensive than Worcester, MA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 102.5). A $100,000 salary in Worcester buys about the same as $95,874 in Coeur d'Alene; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 102.5 (Worcester) vs 98.3 (Coeur d'Alene)
- $100k in Worcester ≈ $95,874 purchasing power in Coeur d'Alene
- Services drives the gap (-84.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MA:ID 102.5→98.3
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE MA × 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
Coeur d'Alene, ID is 4.1% less expensive than Worcester, MA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 4.2-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Worcester is above 100 while Coeur d'Alene is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Services leads the difference, with Coeur d'Alene 84.4 points lower than Worcester. 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 Worcester to $95,874 in Coeur d'Alene, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Worcester
- 97.0
- Coeur d'Alene
- 96.2
Diff -0.8 RPP
Services
- Worcester
- 155.2
- Coeur d'Alene
- 70.8
Diff -84.4 RPP
Rents
- Worcester
- 113.0
- Coeur d'Alene
- 105.6
Diff -7.4 RPP
| Category | Worcester | Coeur d'Alene | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 102.5 | 98.3 | -4.2 |
| Goods | 97.0 | 96.2 | -0.8 |
| Services | 155.2 | 70.8 | -84.4 |
| Rents | 113.0 | 105.6 | -7.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Worcester 102.5
Coeur d'Alene 98.3
Goods
Worcester 97.0
Coeur d'Alene 96.2
Services
Worcester 155.2
Coeur d'Alene 70.8
Rents
Worcester 113.0
Coeur d'Alene 105.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Worcester would need to be in Coeur d'Alene for the same purchasing power:
| In Worcester | In Coeur d'Alene | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $47,937 | $-2,063 |
| $75,000 | $71,906 | $-3,094 |
| $100,000 | $95,874 | $-4,126 |
| $150,000 | $143,811 | $-6,189 |
$ in Worcester = in Coeur d'Alene
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (102.5 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Worcester
102.5
Cost Index
Coeur d'Alene
98.3
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Coeur d'Alene more expensive than Worcester?
Coeur d'Alene is 4.1% less expensive than Worcester. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 102.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Coeur d'Alene equals $100K in Worcester?
A $100,000 salary in Worcester has the same purchasing power as $95,874 in Coeur d'Alene. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Worcester and Coeur d'Alene?
Rents in Worcester are indexed at 113.0 while Coeur d'Alene is at 105.6 (national average = 100). Worcester 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.