Overall
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 96.9
Diff -6.7 RPP
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin vs Milwaukee-Waukesha
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Milwaukee-Waukesha is 6.4% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin.
6.4% less expensive
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI is 6.4% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 96.9 vs 103.6). A $100,000 salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin buys about the same as $93,573 in Milwaukee-Waukesha; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin) vs 96.9 (Milwaukee-Waukesha)
- $100k in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin ≈ $93,573 purchasing power in Milwaukee-Waukesha
- Rents drives the gap (-14.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IL:WI 103.6→96.9
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE IL × WI
- 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
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 93.8
Diff -13.5 RPP
Services
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 91.6
Diff +8.0 RPP
Rents
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 97.1
Diff -14.9 RPP
| Category | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Milwaukee-Waukesha | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.6 | 96.9 | -6.7 |
| Goods | 107.3 | 93.8 | -13.5 |
| Services | 83.6 | 91.6 | +8.0 |
| Rents | 112.0 | 97.1 | -14.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
Milwaukee-Waukesha 96.9
Goods
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
Milwaukee-Waukesha 93.8
Services
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
Milwaukee-Waukesha 91.6
Rents
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 112.0
Milwaukee-Waukesha 97.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Milwaukee-Waukesha is 14.9 points lower. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI is 6.4% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 6.7-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is above 100 while Milwaukee-Waukesha 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 $93,573 in Milwaukee-Waukesha.
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
Milwaukee-Waukesha
96.9
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin would need to be in Milwaukee-Waukesha for the same purchasing power:
| In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | In Milwaukee-Waukesha | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $46,787 | $-3,213 |
| $75,000 | $70,180 | $-4,820 |
| $100,000 | $93,573 | $-6,427 |
| $150,000 | $140,360 | $-9,640 |
$ in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin = in Milwaukee-Waukesha
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.6 → 96.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin and Milwaukee-Waukesha share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 7.7 to 6.7 RPP points. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 10.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (25.2 to 14.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin RPP | Milwaukee-Waukesha RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 105.4 | 97.7 | 7.7 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2012 | 105.1 | 97.6 | 7.5 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2016 | 103.8 | 99.1 | 4.7 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2020 | 104.5 | 95.7 | 8.7 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2024 | 103.6 | 96.9 | 6.7 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 Milwaukee-Waukesha more expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
Milwaukee-Waukesha is 6.4% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. The overall cost index is 96.9 vs 103.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Milwaukee-Waukesha equals $100K in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
A $100,000 salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin has the same purchasing power as $93,573 in Milwaukee-Waukesha. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Chicago-Naperville-Elgin and Milwaukee-Waukesha?
Rents in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin are indexed at 112.0 while Milwaukee-Waukesha is at 97.1 (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.