Great Falls → Walla Walla

Moving from Great Falls to Walla Walla shifts your BEA Regional Price Parity from 96.8 to 98.5 (100 = US average), so a Great Falls salary needs to be multiplied by 1.02 to hold the same purchasing power in Walla Walla. On rent, HUD Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom goes from $1,284/month in Great Falls to $1,550/month in Walla Walla - a higher monthly bill of $266, or $3,192/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 $60,566 in Great Falls versus $71,001 in Walla Walla - a raw gap of $10,435 higher. The Walla Walla labor market has 19,680 tracked jobs against 31,100 in Great Falls, 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 Great Falls and Walla Walla are 426 and 329 per 100,000 (state-level). NCES student-teacher ratios run 11.8:1 at origin versus 17.6:1 at destination. DOL center-based infant care costs $11,466/year in Great Falls versus $15,987/year in Walla Walla. Our composite verdict - Less Favorable - weighs all seven federal sources; the dimension table below lets you override that with your personal priorities.