Overall
- Chico
- 101.2
- Salt Lake City-Murray
- 100.9
Diff -0.3 RPP
Chico vs Salt Lake City-Murray
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Salt Lake City-Murray is 0.3% less expensive than Chico.
0.3% less expensive
Salt Lake City-Murray, UT is 0.3% less expensive than Chico, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 100.9 vs 101.2). A $100,000 salary in Chico buys about the same as $99,675 in Salt Lake City-Murray; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 101.2 (Chico) vs 100.9 (Salt Lake City-Murray)
- $100k in Chico ≈ $99,675 purchasing power in Salt Lake City-Murray
- Services drives the gap (-79.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:UT 101.2→100.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE CA × UT
- 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.
Chico
101.2
Cost Index
Salt Lake City-Murray
100.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Chico, CA and Salt Lake City-Murray, UT are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Salt Lake City-Murray is 79.8 points lower. But rents 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 Chico to $99,675 in Salt Lake City-Murray, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Chico
- 105.2
Diff -8.7 RPP
Services
- Chico
- 158.8
Diff -79.8 RPP
Rents
- Chico
- 91.9
- Salt Lake City-Murray
- 123.3
Diff +31.4 RPP
| Category | Chico | Salt Lake City-Murray | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 101.2 | 100.9 | -0.3 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 96.4 | -8.7 |
| Services | 158.8 | 79.0 | -79.8 |
| Rents | 91.9 | 123.3 | +31.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Chico 101.2
Salt Lake City-Murray 100.9
Goods
Chico 105.2
Salt Lake City-Murray 96.4
Services
Chico 158.8
Salt Lake City-Murray 79.0
Rents
Chico 91.9
Salt Lake City-Murray 123.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Chico would need to be in Salt Lake City-Murray for the same purchasing power:
| In Chico | In Salt Lake City-Murray | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,837 | $-163 |
| $75,000 | $74,756 | $-244 |
| $100,000 | $99,675 | $-325 |
| $150,000 | $149,512 | $-488 |
$ in Chico = in Salt Lake City-Murray
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (101.2 → 100.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Salt Lake City-Murray more expensive than Chico?
Salt Lake City-Murray is 0.3% less expensive than Chico. The overall cost index is 100.9 vs 101.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Salt Lake City-Murray equals $100K in Chico?
A $100,000 salary in Chico has the same purchasing power as $99,675 in Salt Lake City-Murray. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Chico and Salt Lake City-Murray?
Rents in Chico are indexed at 91.9 while Salt Lake City-Murray is at 123.3 (national average = 100). Salt Lake City-Murray 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.