Overall
- Rockford
- 92.2
Diff +0.3 RPP
Augusta-Richmond County vs Rockford
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Rockford is 0.3% more expensive than Augusta-Richmond County.
0.3% more expensive
Rockford, IL is 0.3% more expensive than Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.2 vs 91.9). A $100,000 salary in Augusta-Richmond County buys about the same as $100,273 in Rockford; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 91.9 (Augusta-Richmond County) vs 92.2 (Rockford)
- $100k in Augusta-Richmond County ≈ $100,273 purchasing power in Rockford
- Goods drives the gap (-2.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair GA:IL 91.9→92.2
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE GA × IL
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- 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.
Augusta-Richmond County
91.9
Cost Index
Rockford
92.2
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC 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.
Goods creates the largest separation: Rockford is 2.7 points lower. But goods and rents and services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
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 goods-led difference, remember that many tradable prices vary less by address than housing or labor-priced services. Use $100,273 in Rockford as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Augusta-Richmond County, then replace the national basket with your own.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Rockford
- 93.6
Diff -2.7 RPP
Services
- Rockford
- 89.4
Diff -0.1 RPP
Rents
- Rockford
- 70.1
Diff -0.5 RPP
| Category | Augusta-Richmond County | Rockford | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.9 | 92.2 | +0.3 |
| Goods | 96.3 | 93.6 | -2.7 |
| Services | 89.5 | 89.4 | -0.1 |
| Rents | 70.6 | 70.1 | -0.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Augusta-Richmond County 91.9
Rockford 92.2
Goods
Augusta-Richmond County 96.3
Rockford 93.6
Services
Augusta-Richmond County 89.5
Rockford 89.4
Rents
Augusta-Richmond County 70.6
Rockford 70.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Augusta-Richmond County and Rockford share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 5.6 to 0.3 RPP points. Rockford remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 17.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (16.9 to 0.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Augusta-Richmond County RPP | Rockford RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 91.1 | 96.7 | 5.6 points Rockford higher |
| 2012 | 93.5 | 93.9 | 0.4 points Rockford higher |
| 2016 | 93.6 | 93.3 | 0.4 points Augusta-Richmond County higher |
| 2020 | 89.7 | 91.8 | 2.1 points Rockford higher |
| 2024 | 91.9 | 92.2 | 0.3 points Rockford 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 Augusta-Richmond County would need to be in Rockford for the same purchasing power:
| In Augusta-Richmond County | In Rockford | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,137 | +$137 |
| $75,000 | $75,205 | +$205 |
| $100,000 | $100,273 | +$273 |
| $150,000 | $150,410 | +$410 |
$ in Augusta-Richmond County = in Rockford
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.9 → 92.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Rockford more expensive than Augusta-Richmond County?
Rockford is 0.3% more expensive than Augusta-Richmond County. The overall cost index is 92.2 vs 91.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Rockford equals $100K in Augusta-Richmond County?
A $100,000 salary in Augusta-Richmond County has the same purchasing power as $100,273 in Rockford. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Augusta-Richmond County and Rockford?
Rents in Augusta-Richmond County are indexed at 70.6 while Rockford is at 70.1 (national average = 100). Augusta-Richmond County 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.