Overall
- Fort Smith
- 85.9
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
Diff +17.7 RPP
Fort Smith vs Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 20.6% more expensive than Fort Smith.
20.6% more expensive
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN is 20.6% more expensive than Fort Smith, AR-OK on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.6 vs 85.9). A $100,000 salary in Fort Smith buys about the same as $120,616 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 85.9 (Fort Smith) vs 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin)
- $100k in Fort Smith ≈ $120,616 purchasing power in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- Rents drives the gap (+58.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AR:IL 85.9→103.6
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-STEEP
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE AR × IL
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-STEEP Steep PP convert
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 Fort Smith would need to be in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin for the same purchasing power:
| In Fort Smith | In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $60,308 | +$10,308 |
| $75,000 | $90,462 | +$15,462 |
| $100,000 | $120,616 | +$20,616 |
| $150,000 | $180,925 | +$30,925 |
$ in Fort Smith = in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.9 → 103.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Fort Smith, AR-OK and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 17.7 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is above 100 while Fort Smith is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 58.6 points higher than Fort Smith. 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 Fort Smith corresponds to $120,616 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Fort Smith
- 93.6
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 107.3
Diff +13.7 RPP
Services
- Fort Smith
- 73.8
Diff +9.8 RPP
Rents
- Fort Smith
- 53.4
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
Diff +58.6 RPP
| Category | Fort Smith | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.9 | 103.6 | +17.7 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 107.3 | +13.7 |
| Services | 73.8 | 83.6 | +9.8 |
| Rents | 53.4 | 112.0 | +58.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Fort Smith 85.9
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
Goods
Fort Smith 93.6
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
Services
Fort Smith 73.8
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
Rents
Fort Smith 53.4
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 112.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
Fort Smith
85.9
Cost Index
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Fort Smith and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 14.8 to 17.7 RPP points. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Goods changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 6.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (7.3 to 13.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Fort Smith RPP | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 90.7 | 105.4 | 14.8 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2012 | 89.8 | 105.1 | 15.3 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2016 | 89.3 | 103.8 | 14.5 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2020 | 87.1 | 104.5 | 17.4 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2024 | 85.9 | 103.6 | 17.7 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 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin more expensive than Fort Smith?
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 20.6% more expensive than Fort Smith. The overall cost index is 103.6 vs 85.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin equals $100K in Fort Smith?
A $100,000 salary in Fort Smith has the same purchasing power as $120,616 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Fort Smith and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
Rents in Fort Smith are indexed at 53.4 while Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is at 112.0 (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.