Colorado Springs → Great Falls

Moving from Colorado Springs to Great Falls shifts your BEA Regional Price Parity from 100.7 to 96.8 (100 = US average), so a Colorado Springs salary needs to be multiplied by 0.96 to hold the same purchasing power in Great Falls. On rent, HUD Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom goes from $1,735/month in Colorado Springs to $1,284/month in Great Falls - a lower monthly bill of $451, or $5,412/year. That rent delta alone is often the single biggest line item when relocating.

Wages tell the other half. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics report a median salary of $72,907 in Colorado Springs versus $60,566 in Great Falls - a raw gap of $12,341 lower. The Great Falls labor market has 31,100 tracked jobs against 304,920 in Colorado Springs, shaping how easy it is to find a comparable role. Combine that with the cost-of-living shift above and you get the real purchasing-power delta, sometimes a "higher salary" is actually a pay cut once rent and RPP are applied.

Safety, schools, and childcare round out the move. FBI UCR violent crime rates near Colorado Springs and Great Falls are 481 and 426 per 100,000 (state-level). NCES student-teacher ratios run 16.6:1 at origin versus 11.8:1 at destination. DOL center-based infant care costs $12,821/year in Colorado Springs versus $11,466/year in Great Falls. Our composite verdict - Strongly Favorable - weighs all seven federal sources; the dimension table below lets you override that with your personal priorities.