Overall
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
- Wilmington
- 96.4
Diff -7.2 RPP
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin vs Wilmington
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Wilmington is 6.9% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin.
6.9% less expensive
Wilmington, NC is 6.9% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 96.4 vs 103.6). A $100,000 salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin buys about the same as $93,076 in Wilmington; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin) vs 96.4 (Wilmington)
- $100k in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin ≈ $93,076 purchasing power in Wilmington
- Rents drives the gap (-18.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IL:NC 103.6→96.4
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE IL × NC
- 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
- Wilmington
- 96.6
Diff -10.6 RPP
Services
- Wilmington
- 87.9
Diff +4.3 RPP
Rents
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
- Wilmington
- 93.2
Diff -18.8 RPP
| Category | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Wilmington | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.6 | 96.4 | -7.2 |
| Goods | 107.3 | 96.6 | -10.6 |
| Services | 83.6 | 87.9 | +4.3 |
| Rents | 112.0 | 93.2 | -18.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
Wilmington 96.4
Goods
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
Wilmington 96.6
Services
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
Wilmington 87.9
Rents
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 112.0
Wilmington 93.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Wilmington is 18.8 points lower. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Wilmington, NC is 6.9% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 7.2-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is above 100 while Wilmington 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 $93,076 in Wilmington.
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
Wilmington
96.4
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin would need to be in Wilmington for the same purchasing power:
| In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | In Wilmington | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $46,538 | $-3,462 |
| $75,000 | $69,807 | $-5,193 |
| $100,000 | $93,076 | $-6,924 |
| $150,000 | $139,614 | $-10,386 |
$ in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin = in Wilmington
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.6 → 96.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin and Wilmington share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 12.2 to 7.2 RPP points. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 21.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (40.7 to 18.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin RPP | Wilmington RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 105.4 | 93.2 | 12.2 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2012 | 105.1 | 95.2 | 9.9 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2016 | 103.8 | 95.1 | 8.7 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2020 | 104.5 | 94.0 | 10.4 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2024 | 103.6 | 96.4 | 7.2 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 Wilmington more expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
Wilmington is 6.9% less expensive than Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. The overall cost index is 96.4 vs 103.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Wilmington equals $100K in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
A $100,000 salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin has the same purchasing power as $93,076 in Wilmington. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Chicago-Naperville-Elgin and Wilmington?
Rents in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin are indexed at 112.0 while Wilmington is at 93.2 (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.