Overall
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
Diff +6.8 RPP
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin vs San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara is 6.6% more expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin.
6.6% more expensive
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA is 6.6% more expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 110.4 vs 103.6). A $100,000 salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin buys about the same as $106,591 in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin) vs 110.4 (San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara)
- $100k in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin ≈ $106,591 purchasing power in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara
- Rents drives the gap (+99.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IL:CA 103.6→110.4
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE IL × CA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 100
- 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
Diff -2.1 RPP
Services
Diff +73.1 RPP
Rents
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
Diff +99.9 RPP
| Category | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.6 | 110.4 | +6.8 |
| Goods | 107.3 | 105.2 | -2.1 |
| Services | 83.6 | 156.7 | +73.1 |
| Rents | 112.0 | 211.9 | +99.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara 110.4
Goods
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara 105.2
Services
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara 156.7
Rents
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 112.0
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara 211.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara is 99.9 points higher. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA is 6.6% more expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 6.8-point overall gap.
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.
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 $106,591 in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara.
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara
110.4
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin would need to be in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara for the same purchasing power:
| In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | In San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $53,296 | +$3,296 |
| $75,000 | $79,943 | +$4,943 |
| $100,000 | $106,591 | +$6,591 |
| $150,000 | $159,887 | +$9,887 |
$ in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin = in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.6 → 110.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 13.8 to 6.8 RPP points. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 54.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (18.5 to 73.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin RPP | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 105.4 | 119.3 | 13.8 points San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara higher |
| 2012 | 105.1 | 113.4 | 8.3 points San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara higher |
| 2016 | 103.8 | 117.7 | 13.9 points San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara higher |
| 2020 | 104.5 | 113.5 | 9.0 points San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara higher |
| 2024 | 103.6 | 110.4 | 6.8 points San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara 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 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara more expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara is 6.6% more expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. The overall cost index is 110.4 vs 103.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara equals $100K in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
A $100,000 salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin has the same purchasing power as $106,591 in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Chicago-Naperville-Elgin and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara?
Rents in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin are indexed at 112.0 while San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara is at 211.9 (national average = 100). San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara 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.