Overall
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
Diff -2.0 RPP
Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard vs Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 1.9% less expensive than Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard.
1.9% less expensive
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN is 1.9% less expensive than Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.6 vs 105.6). A $100,000 salary in Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard buys about the same as $98,095 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 105.6 (Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard) vs 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin)
- $100k in Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard ≈ $98,095 purchasing power in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- Rents drives the gap (-17.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:IL 105.6→103.6
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE WA × IL
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 107.3
Diff +2.2 RPP
Services
Diff -8.5 RPP
Rents
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
Diff -17.6 RPP
| Category | Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 105.6 | 103.6 | -2.0 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 107.3 | +2.2 |
| Services | 92.0 | 83.6 | -8.5 |
| Rents | 129.6 | 112.0 | -17.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard 105.6
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
Goods
Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard 105.0
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
Services
Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard 92.0
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
Rents
Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard 129.6
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 112.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 17.6 points lower. But goods 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 1.9% less expensive than Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.0-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 housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard corresponds to $98,095 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin.
Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard
105.6
Cost Index
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard would need to be in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin for the same purchasing power:
| In Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard | In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,047 | $-953 |
| $75,000 | $73,571 | $-1,429 |
| $100,000 | $98,095 | $-1,905 |
| $150,000 | $147,142 | $-2,858 |
$ in Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard = in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (105.6 → 103.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Chicago-Naperville-Elgin more expensive than Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard?
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 1.9% less expensive than Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard. The overall cost index is 103.6 vs 105.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin equals $100K in Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard?
A $100,000 salary in Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard has the same purchasing power as $98,095 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
Rents in Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard are indexed at 129.6 while Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is at 112.0 (national average = 100). Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard 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.