Overall
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
- Johnstown
- 85.9
Diff -17.7 RPP
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin vs Johnstown
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Johnstown is 17.1% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin.
17.1% less expensive
Johnstown, PA is 17.1% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 85.9 vs 103.6). A $100,000 salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin buys about the same as $82,947 in Johnstown; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin) vs 85.9 (Johnstown)
- $100k in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin ≈ $82,947 purchasing power in Johnstown
- Rents drives the gap (-69.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IL:PA 103.6→85.9
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-STEEP
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE IL × PA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-STEEP Steep PP convert
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
- Johnstown
- 100.7
Diff -6.6 RPP
Services
- Johnstown
- 108.9
Diff +25.3 RPP
Rents
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
- Johnstown
- 42.3
Diff -69.7 RPP
| Category | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Johnstown | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.6 | 85.9 | -17.7 |
| Goods | 107.3 | 100.7 | -6.6 |
| Services | 83.6 | 108.9 | +25.3 |
| Rents | 112.0 | 42.3 | -69.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
Johnstown 85.9
Goods
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
Johnstown 100.7
Services
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
Johnstown 108.9
Rents
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 112.0
Johnstown 42.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Johnstown is 69.7 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 and Johnstown, PA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 17.7 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 Johnstown 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 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 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin corresponds to $82,947 in Johnstown.
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
Johnstown
85.9
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin would need to be in Johnstown for the same purchasing power:
| In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | In Johnstown | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $41,474 | $-8,526 |
| $75,000 | $62,210 | $-12,790 |
| $100,000 | $82,947 | $-17,053 |
| $150,000 | $124,421 | $-25,579 |
$ in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin = in Johnstown
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.6 → 85.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin and Johnstown share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 14.7 to 17.7 RPP points. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 6.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (18.9 to 25.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin RPP | Johnstown RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 105.4 | 90.7 | 14.7 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2012 | 105.1 | 86.8 | 18.3 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2016 | 103.8 | 88.7 | 15.1 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2020 | 104.5 | 87.6 | 16.9 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2024 | 103.6 | 85.9 | 17.7 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 Johnstown more expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
Johnstown is 17.1% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. The overall cost index is 85.9 vs 103.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Johnstown equals $100K in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
A $100,000 salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin has the same purchasing power as $82,947 in Johnstown. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Chicago-Naperville-Elgin and Johnstown?
Rents in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin are indexed at 112.0 while Johnstown is at 42.3 (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.