Overall
Diff -0.3 RPP
Appleton vs Rockford
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Rockford is 0.3% less expensive than Appleton.
0.3% less expensive
Rockford, IL is 0.3% less expensive than Appleton, WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.2 vs 92.4). A $100,000 salary in Appleton buys about the same as $99,713 in Rockford; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 92.4 (Appleton) vs 92.2 (Rockford)
- $100k in Appleton ≈ $99,713 purchasing power in Rockford
- Services drives the gap (-1.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WI:IL 92.4→92.2
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WI × IL
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Appleton
92.4
Cost Index
Rockford
92.2
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Appleton, WI and Rockford, IL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services leads the difference, with Rockford 1.2 points lower than Appleton. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
For a service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Appleton to $99,713 in Rockford, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -0.1 RPP
Services
Diff -1.2 RPP
Rents
Diff -0.7 RPP
| Category | Appleton | Rockford | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.4 | 92.2 | -0.3 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 93.6 | -0.1 |
| Services | 90.6 | 89.4 | -1.2 |
| Rents | 70.8 | 70.1 | -0.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Appleton 92.4
Rockford 92.2
Goods
Appleton 93.8
Rockford 93.6
Services
Appleton 90.6
Rockford 89.4
Rents
Appleton 70.8
Rockford 70.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Appleton and Rockford share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 0.4 to 0.3 RPP points. Appleton remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 5.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (7.1 to 1.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Appleton RPP | Rockford RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.1 | 96.7 | 0.4 points Appleton higher |
| 2012 | 94.6 | 93.9 | 0.7 points Appleton higher |
| 2016 | 92.9 | 93.3 | 0.4 points Rockford higher |
| 2020 | 92.3 | 91.8 | 0.5 points Appleton higher |
| 2024 | 92.4 | 92.2 | 0.3 points Appleton higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Appleton would need to be in Rockford for the same purchasing power:
| In Appleton | In Rockford | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,857 | $-143 |
| $75,000 | $74,785 | $-215 |
| $100,000 | $99,713 | $-287 |
| $150,000 | $149,570 | $-430 |
$ in Appleton = in Rockford
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.4 → 92.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Rockford more expensive than Appleton?
Rockford is 0.3% less expensive than Appleton. The overall cost index is 92.2 vs 92.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Rockford equals $100K in Appleton?
A $100,000 salary in Appleton has the same purchasing power as $99,713 in Rockford. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Appleton and Rockford?
Rents in Appleton are indexed at 70.8 while Rockford is at 70.1 (national average = 100). Appleton has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.