Overall
- Buffalo-Cheektowaga
- 95.8
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
Diff +7.8 RPP
Buffalo-Cheektowaga vs Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 8.1% more expensive than Buffalo-Cheektowaga.
8.1% more expensive
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN is 8.1% more expensive than Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.6 vs 95.8). A $100,000 salary in Buffalo-Cheektowaga buys about the same as $108,087 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 95.8 (Buffalo-Cheektowaga) vs 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin)
- $100k in Buffalo-Cheektowaga ≈ $108,087 purchasing power in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- Services drives the gap (-45.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NY:IL 95.8→103.6
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE NY × IL
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- 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
- Buffalo-Cheektowaga
- 99.7
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 107.3
Diff +7.6 RPP
Services
- Buffalo-Cheektowaga
- 129.5
Diff -45.9 RPP
Rents
- Buffalo-Cheektowaga
- 81.0
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
Diff +31.0 RPP
| Category | Buffalo-Cheektowaga | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 95.8 | 103.6 | +7.8 |
| Goods | 99.7 | 107.3 | +7.6 |
| Services | 129.5 | 83.6 | -45.9 |
| Rents | 81.0 | 112.0 | +31.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Buffalo-Cheektowaga 95.8
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
Goods
Buffalo-Cheektowaga 99.7
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
Services
Buffalo-Cheektowaga 129.5
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
Rents
Buffalo-Cheektowaga 81.0
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 45.9 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 8.1% more expensive than Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 7.8-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is above 100 while Buffalo-Cheektowaga is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
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 Buffalo-Cheektowaga to $108,087 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Buffalo-Cheektowaga
95.8
Cost Index
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Buffalo-Cheektowaga would need to be in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin for the same purchasing power:
| In Buffalo-Cheektowaga | In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $54,044 | +$4,044 |
| $75,000 | $81,065 | +$6,065 |
| $100,000 | $108,087 | +$8,087 |
| $150,000 | $162,131 | +$12,131 |
$ in Buffalo-Cheektowaga = in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (95.8 → 103.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Buffalo-Cheektowaga and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 8.4 to 7.8 RPP points. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 19.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (50.5 to 31.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Buffalo-Cheektowaga RPP | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.0 | 105.4 | 8.4 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2012 | 96.2 | 105.1 | 8.9 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2016 | 97.5 | 103.8 | 6.3 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2020 | 94.2 | 104.5 | 10.3 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2024 | 95.8 | 103.6 | 7.8 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 Buffalo-Cheektowaga?
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 8.1% more expensive than Buffalo-Cheektowaga. The overall cost index is 103.6 vs 95.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin equals $100K in Buffalo-Cheektowaga?
A $100,000 salary in Buffalo-Cheektowaga has the same purchasing power as $108,087 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Buffalo-Cheektowaga and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
Rents in Buffalo-Cheektowaga are indexed at 81.0 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.