Overall
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
- State College
- 96.8
Diff -6.8 RPP
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin vs State College
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. State College is 6.6% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin.
6.6% less expensive
State College, PA is 6.6% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 96.8 vs 103.6). A $100,000 salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin buys about the same as $93,404 in State College; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin) vs 96.8 (State College)
- $100k in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin ≈ $93,404 purchasing power in State College
- Rents drives the gap (-26.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IL:PA 103.6→96.8
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE IL × PA
- 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
- State College
- 100.7
Diff -6.6 RPP
Services
- State College
- 109.5
Diff +25.9 RPP
Rents
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
- State College
- 85.7
Diff -26.3 RPP
| Category | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | State College | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.6 | 96.8 | -6.8 |
| Goods | 107.3 | 100.7 | -6.6 |
| Services | 83.6 | 109.5 | +25.9 |
| Rents | 112.0 | 85.7 | -26.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
State College 96.8
Goods
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
State College 100.7
Services
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
State College 109.5
Rents
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 112.0
State College 85.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: State College is 26.3 points lower. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
State College, PA is 6.6% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 6.8-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is above 100 while State College 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 $93,404 in State College.
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
State College
96.8
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin would need to be in State College for the same purchasing power:
| In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | In State College | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $46,702 | $-3,298 |
| $75,000 | $70,053 | $-4,947 |
| $100,000 | $93,404 | $-6,596 |
| $150,000 | $140,106 | $-9,894 |
$ in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin = in State College
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.6 → 96.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin and State College share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 6.3 to 6.8 RPP points. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 9.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (36.2 to 26.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin RPP | State College RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 105.4 | 99.2 | 6.3 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2012 | 105.1 | 96.7 | 8.4 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2016 | 103.8 | 101.4 | 2.4 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2020 | 104.5 | 98.0 | 6.4 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2024 | 103.6 | 96.8 | 6.8 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 State College more expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
State College is 6.6% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. The overall cost index is 96.8 vs 103.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in State College equals $100K in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
A $100,000 salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin has the same purchasing power as $93,404 in State College. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Chicago-Naperville-Elgin and State College?
Rents in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin are indexed at 112.0 while State College is at 85.7 (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.