Overall
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
Diff +3.5 RPP
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell vs Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 3.5% more expensive than Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell.
3.5% more expensive
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN is 3.5% more expensive than Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.6 vs 100.1). A $100,000 salary in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell buys about the same as $103,535 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 100.1 (Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell) vs 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin)
- $100k in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell ≈ $103,535 purchasing power in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- Services drives the gap (-12.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair GA:IL 100.1→103.6
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE GA × IL
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 100
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 107.3
Diff +6.8 RPP
Services
Diff -12.7 RPP
Rents
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
Diff +1.0 RPP
| Category | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 100.1 | 103.6 | +3.5 |
| Goods | 100.4 | 107.3 | +6.8 |
| Services | 96.2 | 83.6 | -12.7 |
| Rents | 111.0 | 112.0 | +1.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 100.1
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
Goods
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 100.4
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
Services
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 96.2
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
Rents
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 111.0
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 112.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 12.7 points lower. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN is 3.5% more expensive than Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.5-point overall gap.
Both metros exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell to $103,535 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell
100.1
Cost Index
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell would need to be in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin for the same purchasing power:
| In Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell | In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,767 | +$1,767 |
| $75,000 | $77,651 | +$2,651 |
| $100,000 | $103,535 | +$3,535 |
| $150,000 | $155,302 | +$5,302 |
$ in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell = in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (100.1 → 103.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 7.3 to 3.5 RPP points. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 21.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (22.4 to 1.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell RPP | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 98.1 | 105.4 | 7.3 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2012 | 99.2 | 105.1 | 6.0 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2016 | 98.4 | 103.8 | 5.3 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2020 | 98.7 | 104.5 | 5.7 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2024 | 100.1 | 103.6 | 3.5 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Chicago-Naperville-Elgin more expensive than Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell?
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 3.5% more expensive than Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell. The overall cost index is 103.6 vs 100.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin equals $100K in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell?
A $100,000 salary in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell has the same purchasing power as $103,535 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
Rents in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell are indexed at 111.0 while Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is at 112.0 (national average = 100). Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 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.