Overall
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
- Binghamton
- 92.9
Diff -10.7 RPP
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin vs Binghamton
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Binghamton is 10.4% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin.
10.4% less expensive
Binghamton, NY is 10.4% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.9 vs 103.6). A $100,000 salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin buys about the same as $89,640 in Binghamton; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin) vs 92.9 (Binghamton)
- $100k in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin ≈ $89,640 purchasing power in Binghamton
- Services drives the gap (+48.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IL:NY 103.6→92.9
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE IL × NY
- 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
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 107.3
- Binghamton
- 99.7
Diff -7.6 RPP
Services
- Binghamton
- 131.6
Diff +48.0 RPP
Rents
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
- Binghamton
- 69.7
Diff -42.3 RPP
| Category | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Binghamton | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.6 | 92.9 | -10.7 |
| Goods | 107.3 | 99.7 | -7.6 |
| Services | 83.6 | 131.6 | +48.0 |
| Rents | 112.0 | 69.7 | -42.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
Binghamton 92.9
Goods
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
Binghamton 99.7
Services
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
Binghamton 131.6
Rents
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 112.0
Binghamton 69.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Binghamton is 48.0 points higher. 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 and Binghamton, NY sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 10.7 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is above 100 while Binghamton 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 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin to $89,640 in Binghamton, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
Binghamton
92.9
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin would need to be in Binghamton for the same purchasing power:
| In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | In Binghamton | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $44,820 | $-5,180 |
| $75,000 | $67,230 | $-7,770 |
| $100,000 | $89,640 | $-10,360 |
| $150,000 | $134,461 | $-15,539 |
$ in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin = in Binghamton
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.6 → 92.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin and Binghamton share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 8.4 to 10.7 RPP points. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 7.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (49.4 to 42.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin RPP | Binghamton RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 105.4 | 97.0 | 8.4 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2012 | 105.1 | 94.9 | 10.2 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2016 | 103.8 | 96.1 | 7.7 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2020 | 104.5 | 96.9 | 7.5 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2024 | 103.6 | 92.9 | 10.7 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 Binghamton more expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
Binghamton is 10.4% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. The overall cost index is 92.9 vs 103.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Binghamton equals $100K in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
A $100,000 salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin has the same purchasing power as $89,640 in Binghamton. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Chicago-Naperville-Elgin and Binghamton?
Rents in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin are indexed at 112.0 while Binghamton is at 69.7 (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.