Overall
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
- Portland-South Portland
- 101.9
Diff -1.7 RPP
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin vs Portland-South Portland
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Portland-South Portland is 1.7% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin.
1.7% less expensive
Portland-South Portland, ME is 1.7% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 101.9 vs 103.6). A $100,000 salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin buys about the same as $98,323 in Portland-South Portland; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin) vs 101.9 (Portland-South Portland)
- $100k in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin ≈ $98,323 purchasing power in Portland-South Portland
- Services drives the gap (+51.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IL:ME 103.6→101.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IL × ME
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
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.
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
Portland-South Portland
101.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN and Portland-South Portland, ME are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.7 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Portland-South Portland is 51.0 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
Both metros exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
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 $98,323 in Portland-South Portland, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 107.3
Diff -10.1 RPP
Services
- Portland-South Portland
- 134.6
Diff +51.0 RPP
Rents
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
- Portland-South Portland
- 105.2
Diff -6.8 RPP
| Category | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Portland-South Portland | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.6 | 101.9 | -1.7 |
| Goods | 107.3 | 97.2 | -10.1 |
| Services | 83.6 | 134.6 | +51.0 |
| Rents | 112.0 | 105.2 | -6.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
Portland-South Portland 101.9
Goods
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
Portland-South Portland 97.2
Services
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
Portland-South Portland 134.6
Rents
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 112.0
Portland-South Portland 105.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin and Portland-South Portland share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 3.0 to 1.7 RPP points. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 8.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (15.7 to 6.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin RPP | Portland-South Portland RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 105.4 | 102.5 | 3.0 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2012 | 105.1 | 101.3 | 3.8 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2016 | 103.8 | 102.3 | 1.5 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2020 | 104.5 | 102.6 | 1.9 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2024 | 103.6 | 101.9 | 1.7 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin would need to be in Portland-South Portland for the same purchasing power:
| In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | In Portland-South Portland | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,162 | $-838 |
| $75,000 | $73,742 | $-1,258 |
| $100,000 | $98,323 | $-1,677 |
| $150,000 | $147,485 | $-2,515 |
$ in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin = in Portland-South Portland
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.6 → 101.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Portland-South Portland more expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
Portland-South Portland is 1.7% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. The overall cost index is 101.9 vs 103.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Portland-South Portland equals $100K in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
A $100,000 salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin has the same purchasing power as $98,323 in Portland-South Portland. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Chicago-Naperville-Elgin and Portland-South Portland?
Rents in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin are indexed at 112.0 while Portland-South Portland is at 105.2 (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.