Overall
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
- Boise City
- 98.4
Diff -5.2 RPP
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin vs Boise City
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Boise City is 5% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin.
5% less expensive
Boise City, ID is 5% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.4 vs 103.6). A $100,000 salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin buys about the same as $94,977 in Boise City; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin) vs 98.4 (Boise City)
- $100k in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin ≈ $94,977 purchasing power in Boise City
- Services drives the gap (-12.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IL:ID 103.6→98.4
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE IL × ID
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Boise City, ID is 5% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.2-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is above 100 while Boise City is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Services leads the difference, with Boise City 12.9 points lower than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
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 $94,977 in Boise City, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 107.3
- Boise City
- 96.2
Diff -11.1 RPP
Services
- Boise City
- 70.7
Diff -12.9 RPP
Rents
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
- Boise City
- 105.6
Diff -6.4 RPP
| Category | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Boise City | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.6 | 98.4 | -5.2 |
| Goods | 107.3 | 96.2 | -11.1 |
| Services | 83.6 | 70.7 | -12.9 |
| Rents | 112.0 | 105.6 | -6.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
Boise City 98.4
Goods
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
Boise City 96.2
Services
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
Boise City 70.7
Rents
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 112.0
Boise City 105.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin would need to be in Boise City for the same purchasing power:
| In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | In Boise City | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $47,488 | $-2,512 |
| $75,000 | $71,232 | $-3,768 |
| $100,000 | $94,977 | $-5,023 |
| $150,000 | $142,465 | $-7,535 |
$ in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin = in Boise City
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.6 → 98.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
Boise City
98.4
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Boise City more expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
Boise City is 5% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. The overall cost index is 98.4 vs 103.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Boise City equals $100K in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
A $100,000 salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin has the same purchasing power as $94,977 in Boise City. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Chicago-Naperville-Elgin and Boise City?
Rents in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin are indexed at 112.0 while Boise City is at 105.6 (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.