Overall
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
- Lynchburg
- 89.4
Diff -14.2 RPP
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin vs Lynchburg
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lynchburg is 13.7% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin.
13.7% less expensive
Lynchburg, VA is 13.7% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 89.4 vs 103.6). A $100,000 salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin buys about the same as $86,262 in Lynchburg; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin) vs 89.4 (Lynchburg)
- $100k in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin ≈ $86,262 purchasing power in Lynchburg
- Rents drives the gap (-48.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IL:VA 103.6→89.4
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE IL × VA
- 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
- Lynchburg
- 96.8
Diff -10.5 RPP
Services
- Lynchburg
- 87.8
Diff +4.2 RPP
Rents
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
- Lynchburg
- 63.9
Diff -48.1 RPP
| Category | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Lynchburg | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.6 | 89.4 | -14.2 |
| Goods | 107.3 | 96.8 | -10.5 |
| Services | 83.6 | 87.8 | +4.2 |
| Rents | 112.0 | 63.9 | -48.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
Lynchburg 89.4
Goods
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
Lynchburg 96.8
Services
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
Lynchburg 87.8
Rents
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 112.0
Lynchburg 63.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Lynchburg is 48.1 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 Lynchburg, VA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 14.2 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 Lynchburg 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 $86,262 in Lynchburg.
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
Lynchburg
89.4
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin would need to be in Lynchburg for the same purchasing power:
| In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | In Lynchburg | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $43,131 | $-6,869 |
| $75,000 | $64,696 | $-10,304 |
| $100,000 | $86,262 | $-13,738 |
| $150,000 | $129,393 | $-20,607 |
$ in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin = in Lynchburg
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.6 → 89.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin and Lynchburg share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 15.3 to 14.2 RPP points. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 13.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (9.0 to 4.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin RPP | Lynchburg RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 105.4 | 90.1 | 15.3 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2012 | 105.1 | 91.1 | 14.0 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2016 | 103.8 | 91.6 | 12.2 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2020 | 104.5 | 88.0 | 16.5 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2024 | 103.6 | 89.4 | 14.2 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 Lynchburg more expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
Lynchburg is 13.7% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. The overall cost index is 89.4 vs 103.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lynchburg equals $100K in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
A $100,000 salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin has the same purchasing power as $86,262 in Lynchburg. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Chicago-Naperville-Elgin and Lynchburg?
Rents in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin are indexed at 112.0 while Lynchburg is at 63.9 (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.