Overall
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
- St. George
- 97.3
Diff -6.3 RPP
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin vs St. George
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. St. George is 6.1% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin.
6.1% less expensive
St. George, UT is 6.1% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.3 vs 103.6). A $100,000 salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin buys about the same as $93,944 in St. George; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin) vs 97.3 (St. George)
- $100k in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin ≈ $93,944 purchasing power in St. George
- Rents drives the gap (-13.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IL:UT 103.6→97.3
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE IL × UT
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin would need to be in St. George for the same purchasing power:
| In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | In St. George | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $46,972 | $-3,028 |
| $75,000 | $70,458 | $-4,542 |
| $100,000 | $93,944 | $-6,056 |
| $150,000 | $140,916 | $-9,084 |
$ in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin = in St. George
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.6 → 97.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
St. George, UT is 6.1% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 6.3-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is above 100 while St. George is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with St. George 13.9 points lower than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
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 $93,944 in St. George.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 107.3
- St. George
- 96.4
Diff -10.8 RPP
Services
- St. George
- 77.7
Diff -5.9 RPP
Rents
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
- St. George
- 98.1
Diff -13.9 RPP
| Category | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | St. George | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.6 | 97.3 | -6.3 |
| Goods | 107.3 | 96.4 | -10.8 |
| Services | 83.6 | 77.7 | -5.9 |
| Rents | 112.0 | 98.1 | -13.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
St. George 97.3
Goods
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
St. George 96.4
Services
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
St. George 77.7
Rents
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 112.0
St. George 98.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
St. George
97.3
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin and St. George share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 6.9 to 6.3 RPP points. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 22.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (28.7 to 5.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin RPP | St. George RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 105.4 | 98.5 | 6.9 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2012 | 105.1 | 96.4 | 8.7 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2016 | 103.8 | 99.2 | 4.6 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2020 | 104.5 | 95.9 | 8.6 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2024 | 103.6 | 97.3 | 6.3 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 St. George more expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
St. George is 6.1% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. The overall cost index is 97.3 vs 103.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in St. George equals $100K in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
A $100,000 salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin has the same purchasing power as $93,944 in St. George. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Chicago-Naperville-Elgin and St. George?
Rents in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin are indexed at 112.0 while St. George is at 98.1 (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.