Boise City composite
47.9 /100
Grade C+ · weighted across 7 dims
Metro comparison
Boise City vs Boston
Boise City, ID and Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH side by side, cost of living, rent, wages, crime, schools, childcare and environment, all from the same federal datasets so every number is directly comparable.
- 47.9
- Boise City Life Score
- C+
- Boise City grade
- 30.0
- Boston Life Score
- F
- Boston grade
Head-to-head verdict
Across the seven dimensions, Boise City scores higher on 5 (cost of living, rent, safety, schools, childcare) and Boston on 2 (wages, environment). The radar shows the full shape; the tables below break out every figure.
Boise City vs Boston across all seven dimensions (each scored 0–100 as a national percentile, bigger area = stronger overall)
Where each metro wins, and by how much
Every dimension is a national percentile (0–100). Each bar leans toward the stronger metro, a long lean is a decisive edge, a near-even split is a toss-up. The radar shows the overall shape; this shows the per-dimension margins.
◖ Boise City Boston ◗
cost of living
26
5
wages
58
98
rent
23
1
safety
75
49
schools
65
8
childcare
88
1
environment
11
11
Boise City and Boston differ across eleven dimensions of livability. Boise City has a cost-of-living index of 98.4 vs Boston's 108.3 (national average = 100). A 2-bedroom averages $1,655/mo vs $2,941/mo.
How to read this matchup
Reading the Boise City vs Boston Comparison
Boise City (ID) and Boston (MA) are assembled here from the same federal data pipeline, BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, FBI Uniform Crime Reports, NCES public-school counts, and EPA environmental indicators, so every number on this page is directly comparable. The overall cost index reads 98.4 for Boise City against 108.3 for Boston, a 9.9-point gap on a scale where 100 equals the U.S. average. HUD's 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent, the figure used to set housing-choice voucher payment standards, is $1,655/mo in Boise City and $2,941/mo in Boston, a $1,286/mo difference that compounds to $15,432 over a year.
Wage data is reported by metro delineation, and one of these metros is missing a BLS record for the latest OES cycle; the salary columns below fall back to available years. State-level violent crime, the most reliable geographic tier FBI UCR publishes, is 234.7 per 100,000 residents in ID vs 308.8 in MA, with property-crime rates of 754.4 and 1101.2 respectively.
Schools are reported at the state tier by NCES: ID lists 778 public schools at a 17.3:1 student-teacher ratio, while MA lists 1,831 schools at 12.1:1, a signal of class-size staffing, though individual district and school-level variation within each state is substantial. Department of Labor center-based infant care runs $7,315/yr in the Boise City area versus $20,571/yr in Boston - a line item that shifts the real cost-of-living picture for households with children under five far more than headline RPP does. When these pieces are read together rather than in isolation, Boise City and Boston are not simply "cheaper" or "more expensive" - they trade across dimensions, and which metro wins depends on whether your household optimizes for rent, wages, schools, childcare, safety, or environment. Treat the tables below as inputs to that trade-off, not as a single ranking.
Boston composite
30.0 /100
Grade F · weighted across 7 dims
Cost-of-living gap
-9.9 pts
Boise City vs Boston BEA RPP
2-bed rent delta
$1,286 /mo
Boston priced higher
Composite life score on the national 0–100 scale
Boise City
Boise City composite (Grade C+)
Boston
Boston composite (Grade F)
Composite is a weighted roll-up of seven dimensions: cost (20%), wages (20%), rent (15%), safety (15%), schools (10%), childcare (10%), environment (10%). Each input normalized to a 0–100 percentile across all metros.
💰 Cost of Living BEA →
| Category | Boise City | Boston |
|---|---|---|
| Overall RPP | 98.4 | 108.3 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 99.7 |
| Services | 70.7 | 148.8 |
| Rents | 105.6 | 148.4 |
Salary Equivalent Calculator
What salary in Boston gives the same purchasing power as your salary in Boise City?
$
Equivalent in Boston:
$110,036
Based on BEA Regional Price Parities (Boise City: 98.4, Boston: 108.3, national avg = 100).
🏠 Rent (Fair Market Rent) HUD →
| Bedrooms | Boise City | Boston |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $1,170/mo | $2,359/mo |
| 1 Bedroom | $1,381/mo | $2,476/mo |
| 2 Bedroom | $1,655/mo | $2,941/mo |
| 3 Bedroom | $2,318/mo | $3,526/mo |
| 4 Bedroom | $2,772/mo | $3,894/mo |
🛡️ Crime Rates (state-level) FBI →
| Crime Type (per 100K) | Boise City (ID) | Boston (MA) |
|---|---|---|
| Violent Crime | 234.7 | 308.8 |
| Property Crime | 754.4 | 1101.2 |
🎓 Schools (state-level) NCES →
| Metric | ID | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Total Schools | 778 | 1,831 |
| Student-Teacher Ratio | 17.3:1 | 12.1:1 |
| Charter Schools | 9.8% | 4.2% |
👶 Childcare Costs (Annual Avg) (state-level) DOL →
| Age Group | ID | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Infant (Center) | $7,315/yr | $20,571/yr |
| Toddler (Center) | $7,002/yr | $18,516/yr |
| Preschool (Center) | $6,437/yr | $14,656/yr |
🌿 Environment (state-level) EPA →
| Metric | ID | MA |
|---|---|---|
| EPA Facilities | 135 | 450 |
| Water Systems | 767 | 564 |
| Superfund Sites | 12 | 41 |
| Water Violations | 2,204 | 1,106 |
Government-verified data — Air quality (EPA AQS), water safety (EPA SDWIS), healthcare access (HRSA), and disaster risk (FEMA NRI) are sourced directly from U.S. federal agencies. No crowdsourced estimates.
💨 Air Quality (EPA AQS) EPA AQS →
| Metric | Boise City | Boston |
|---|---|---|
| Median AQI | 54.0 | 43.0 |
| Good Air Days | 40.2% | 70.0% |
| Unhealthy Air Days | 68 days | 5 days |
💧 Water Safety (EPA SDWIS, state-level) EPA SDWIS →
| Metric | ID | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Water Safety Score | 5/100 | 6/100 |
| Total Violations | 104,850 | 73,886 |
| Health-Based Violations | 19,965 | 7,389 |
| Systems with Violations | 96.1% | 95.2% |
🏥 Healthcare Access (HRSA, state-level) HRSA →
| Metric | ID | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Access Score | 0/100 | 0/100 |
| Population in Shortage Area | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| HPSA Designations | 244 | 168 |
HPSA = Health Professional Shortage Area, designated by HRSA. Higher access score = better healthcare availability.
⚠️ Natural Disaster Risk (FEMA NRI, state-level) FEMA NRI →
| Metric | ID | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Disaster Safety Score | 78/100 | 25/100 |
| NRI Risk Score (avg county) | 38.5 | 78.8 |
| Expected Annual Loss Score | 41.3 | 82.3 |
FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) scores are county-level percentiles (0–100). Higher disaster safety score = lower relative risk. State-level values are county averages.
Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level. Metro-specific data for these dimensions is not available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Boise City more expensive than Boston? ▼
Boise City has a cost of living index of 98.4 compared to Boston's 108.3 (national average = 100). Boston is 9.9 points above Boise City on the BEA Regional Price Parity scale.
What is the rent difference between Boise City and Boston? ▼
A 2-bedroom apartment averages $1,655/mo in Boise City vs $2,941/mo in Boston, based on HUD Fair Market Rent data. Studios range from $1,170/mo to $2,359/mo.
How do salaries compare between Boise City and Boston? ▼
Wage data is not available for one or both metros.
Is Boise City or Boston safer? ▼
At the state level, ID has a violent crime rate of 234.7 per 100,000 residents compared to MA's 308.8 per 100,000. Property crime rates are 754.4 vs 1101.2 per 100,000 respectively, based on FBI Uniform Crime Report data.
How do schools compare between Boise City and Boston? ▼
ID has 778 public schools with an average student-teacher ratio of 17.3:1, while MA has 1,831 schools at 12.1:1. Charter schools make up 9.8% of ID schools vs 4.2% in MA. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Where does the comparison data come from? ▼
All data comes from official U.S. government sources: Bureau of Economic Analysis (cost of living), HUD (fair market rents), BLS (wages), FBI UCR (crime), NCES (schools), Department of Labor (childcare), EPA (environment, air quality, water safety), HRSA (healthcare access), and FEMA NRI (disaster risk). No crowdsourced estimates or proprietary ratings are used.
Research Guides
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Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, EPA AQS, EPA SDWIS, HRSA, and FEMA NRI. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.
Related
Data sourced from official U.S. government datasets, current as of 2026. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial