Overall
- Champaign-Urbana
- 92.7
- Santa Fe
- 98.8
Diff +6.1 RPP
Champaign-Urbana vs Santa Fe
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Santa Fe is 6.5% more expensive than Champaign-Urbana.
6.5% more expensive
Santa Fe, NM is 6.5% more expensive than Champaign-Urbana, IL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.8 vs 92.7). A $100,000 salary in Champaign-Urbana buys about the same as $106,540 in Santa Fe; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 92.7 (Champaign-Urbana) vs 98.8 (Santa Fe)
- $100k in Champaign-Urbana ≈ $106,540 purchasing power in Santa Fe
- Rents drives the gap (+36.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IL:NM 92.7→98.8
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE IL × NM
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 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
- Champaign-Urbana
- 93.6
- Santa Fe
- 96.1
Diff +2.5 RPP
Services
- Champaign-Urbana
- 90.5
- Santa Fe
- 76.7
Diff -13.8 RPP
Rents
- Champaign-Urbana
- 71.6
- Santa Fe
- 108.0
Diff +36.4 RPP
| Category | Champaign-Urbana | Santa Fe | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.7 | 98.8 | +6.1 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 96.1 | +2.5 |
| Services | 90.5 | 76.7 | -13.8 |
| Rents | 71.6 | 108.0 | +36.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Champaign-Urbana 92.7
Santa Fe 98.8
Goods
Champaign-Urbana 93.6
Santa Fe 96.1
Services
Champaign-Urbana 90.5
Santa Fe 76.7
Rents
Champaign-Urbana 71.6
Santa Fe 108.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Santa Fe is 36.4 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Santa Fe, NM is 6.5% more expensive than Champaign-Urbana, IL, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 6.1-point overall gap.
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.
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 Champaign-Urbana corresponds to $106,540 in Santa Fe.
Champaign-Urbana
92.7
Cost Index
Santa Fe
98.8
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Champaign-Urbana would need to be in Santa Fe for the same purchasing power:
| In Champaign-Urbana | In Santa Fe | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $53,270 | +$3,270 |
| $75,000 | $79,905 | +$4,905 |
| $100,000 | $106,540 | +$6,540 |
| $150,000 | $159,810 | +$9,810 |
$ in Champaign-Urbana = in Santa Fe
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.7 → 98.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Champaign-Urbana and Santa Fe share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 1.8 to 6.1 RPP points. Santa Fe remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 23.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (13.1 to 36.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Champaign-Urbana RPP | Santa Fe RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 96.2 | 98.0 | 1.8 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2012 | 94.2 | 102.1 | 8.0 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2016 | 93.7 | 98.4 | 4.7 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2020 | 91.9 | 96.6 | 4.7 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2024 | 92.7 | 98.8 | 6.1 points Santa Fe 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 Santa Fe more expensive than Champaign-Urbana?
Santa Fe is 6.5% more expensive than Champaign-Urbana. The overall cost index is 98.8 vs 92.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Santa Fe equals $100K in Champaign-Urbana?
A $100,000 salary in Champaign-Urbana has the same purchasing power as $106,540 in Santa Fe. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Champaign-Urbana and Santa Fe?
Rents in Champaign-Urbana are indexed at 71.6 while Santa Fe is at 108.0 (national average = 100). Santa Fe 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.