Washington vs Montana

Household income

Currently in

Moving to

Your $100,000 in Washington is worth

$93,458

at national prices · RPP 107.0BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

The same income in Montana is worth

$105,708

at national prices · RPP 94.6BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

Your income goes +$12,250 further in Montana (+13.1% purchasing power).

Show the math

adjusted = income ÷ (RPP ÷ 100)

Washington: $100,000 ÷ (107.0 ÷ 100) = $93,458

Montana: $100,000 ÷ (94.6 ÷ 100) = $105,708

difference: $105,708 − $93,458 = +$12,250

Where the difference comes from

Price level by component, 100 = US average. Higher means more expensive.

Regional price parity by component for the two states, with the percentage difference.
Component	Washington	Montana	Difference
All items	107.0	94.6	−11.6%
Housing rents	126.0	84.6	−32.9%
Goods	104.4	96.0	−8.0%
Utilities	92.9	72.3	−22.2%
Other services	103.9	98.7	−5.0%

BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 · rel. February 2026 · Official API

Housing reality check

Typical rent and home price in each state — tangible context beyond the index.

WashingtonMedian rent$1,760/moMedian home$564,600

MontanaMedian rent$1,081/moMedian home$375,800

US Census ACS 5-Year Estimates · ACS5 · 2024 · rel. December 2025 · Official API

Tax at a glance

Hand-curated, tax year 2026 · verified 2026-07-20

Income and sales tax for the two states.
Tax	Washington	Montana
Income tax (top rate)	None	5.65%
Sales tax (combined avg)	9.51%	0.00%

Tax Foundation (income & sales) · Tax · 2026 · rel. tax year 2026 · Manually maintained · verified 2026-07-20

Official API Manually maintained2 of 3 metrics sourced from official APIs, 1 manually maintained. How every number is calculated →

Washington vs Montana: the read

The bottom line

Move a $100,000 income from Washington to Montana and its purchasing power changes from $93,458 to $105,708 in national-average terms — a gain of $12,250. Montana is the cheaper of the two, running at 94.6 on the price index versus 107.

Where the difference comes from

The widest gap is housing rents: Washington sits at 126 and Montana at 84.6 (100 = national). Montana has the edge there, and it's the main reason the two states diverge.

Housing

Median rent runs $1,760 in Washington against $1,081 in Montana, and the typical home $564,600 versus $375,800. Montana is the more affordable place to buy.

Taxes

On tax, Washington has no wage income tax and a combined sales tax of 9.51%; Montana has 5.65% top income tax and 0.00%. Weigh both against the purchasing-power figure above.

Full profiles: Washington ·Montana. Every figure here is sourced on the pages linked above.

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