Overall
- Fort Wayne
- 92.6
- Champaign-Urbana
- 92.7
Diff +0.1 RPP
Fort Wayne vs Champaign-Urbana
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Champaign-Urbana is 0.1% more expensive than Fort Wayne.
0.1% more expensive
Champaign-Urbana, IL is 0.1% more expensive than Fort Wayne, IN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.7 vs 92.6). A $100,000 salary in Fort Wayne buys about the same as $100,143 in Champaign-Urbana; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 92.6 (Fort Wayne) vs 92.7 (Champaign-Urbana)
- $100k in Fort Wayne ≈ $100,143 purchasing power in Champaign-Urbana
- Services drives the gap (+4.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IN:IL 92.6→92.7
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IN × IL
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 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.
Fort Wayne
92.6
Cost Index
Champaign-Urbana
92.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Fort Wayne, IN and Champaign-Urbana, IL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Champaign-Urbana is 4.2 points higher. But goods and 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 remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
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 Fort Wayne to $100,143 in Champaign-Urbana, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Fort Wayne
- 94.3
- Champaign-Urbana
- 93.6
Diff -0.7 RPP
Services
- Fort Wayne
- 86.2
- Champaign-Urbana
- 90.5
Diff +4.2 RPP
Rents
- Fort Wayne
- 72.3
- Champaign-Urbana
- 71.6
Diff -0.7 RPP
| Category | Fort Wayne | Champaign-Urbana | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.6 | 92.7 | +0.1 |
| Goods | 94.3 | 93.6 | -0.7 |
| Services | 86.2 | 90.5 | +4.2 |
| Rents | 72.3 | 71.6 | -0.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Fort Wayne 92.6
Champaign-Urbana 92.7
Goods
Fort Wayne 94.3
Champaign-Urbana 93.6
Services
Fort Wayne 86.2
Champaign-Urbana 90.5
Rents
Fort Wayne 72.3
Champaign-Urbana 71.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Fort Wayne would need to be in Champaign-Urbana for the same purchasing power:
| In Fort Wayne | In Champaign-Urbana | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,071 | +$71 |
| $75,000 | $75,107 | +$107 |
| $100,000 | $100,143 | +$143 |
| $150,000 | $150,214 | +$214 |
$ in Fort Wayne = in Champaign-Urbana
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.6 → 92.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Champaign-Urbana more expensive than Fort Wayne?
Champaign-Urbana is 0.1% more expensive than Fort Wayne. The overall cost index is 92.7 vs 92.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Champaign-Urbana equals $100K in Fort Wayne?
A $100,000 salary in Fort Wayne has the same purchasing power as $100,143 in Champaign-Urbana. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Fort Wayne and Champaign-Urbana?
Rents in Fort Wayne are indexed at 72.3 while Champaign-Urbana is at 71.6 (national average = 100). Fort Wayne 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.