Bismarck → Boise City
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Bismarck to Boise City is unfavorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 91.0 to 98.4 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent rises by $480/mo.
- -$3,473
- BLS median salary lower in Boise City
- 257 to 235
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 11.8:1 to 17.1:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $3,610
- DOL infant care lower / yr in Boise City
BEA Regional Price Parity, HUD Fair Market Rent, BLS OEWS, FBI UCR, NCES, and DOL. The table below lets you override the composite with your own priorities.
Pros of Moving
- + More affordable childcare
Cons of Moving
- - 7% higher cost of living
- - $480/mo more expensive rent (2BR)
- - $3K lower median salary
- - Higher student-teacher ratios
- - More environmental violations
Purchasing power tightens: BEA RPP rises from 91.0 to 98.4, so the same paycheck buys less in Boise City (ratio 1.08). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent rises $480/mo ($5,760/yr) from $1,175 in Bismarck to $1,655 in Boise City.
Bismarck still leads on 5 of 7 federal dimensions, the origin keeps the edge. Boise City sits #317 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (bottom third of the corpus). Bismarck is #9/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Unfavorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $3,473 lower ($70,851 → $67,378). Labor-market size: 64,970 tracked jobs at origin vs 377,880 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors staying put: North Dakota scores 69 (C, #9/51) vs Idaho at 58 (D, #30/51). Full state tax and healthcare sub-scores sit in the retirement desk below.
State retirement friendliness
Primary-state scores from PlainRelocate's retirement registry (tax + healthcare + climate composite). Metro pairs use each metro's primary state abbreviation.
- Income tax
- 75
- Property tax
- 59
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 94
- Income tax
- 70
- Property tax
- 76
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 24
Full retirement ranking · Source composite documented on methodology (Tax Foundation + AARP tax guides + federal healthcare/climate inputs).
Salary Adjustment Calculator
Enter your current salary in Bismarck to see what you'd need to earn in Boise City to maintain the same purchasing power.
Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA; retirement desk: Tax Foundation + AARP tax guides June 2026