Overall
- Great Falls
- 96.8
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
Diff +6.8 RPP
Great Falls vs Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 7% more expensive than Great Falls.
7% more expensive
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN is 7% more expensive than Great Falls, MT on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.6 vs 96.8). A $100,000 salary in Great Falls buys about the same as $106,970 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 96.8 (Great Falls) vs 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin)
- $100k in Great Falls ≈ $106,970 purchasing power in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- Rents drives the gap (+14.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MT:IL 96.8→103.6
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE MT × IL
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Great Falls would need to be in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin for the same purchasing power:
| In Great Falls | In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $53,485 | +$3,485 |
| $75,000 | $80,227 | +$5,227 |
| $100,000 | $106,970 | +$6,970 |
| $150,000 | $160,455 | +$10,455 |
$ in Great Falls = in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (96.8 → 103.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN is 7% more expensive than Great Falls, MT, 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 Great Falls 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 14.9 points higher than Great Falls. 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 Great Falls corresponds to $106,970 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Great Falls
- 96.0
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 107.3
Diff +11.3 RPP
Services
- Great Falls
- 73.0
Diff +10.5 RPP
Rents
- Great Falls
- 97.1
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
Diff +14.9 RPP
| Category | Great Falls | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 96.8 | 103.6 | +6.8 |
| Goods | 96.0 | 107.3 | +11.3 |
| Services | 73.0 | 83.6 | +10.5 |
| Rents | 97.1 | 112.0 | +14.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Great Falls 96.8
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
Goods
Great Falls 96.0
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
Services
Great Falls 73.0
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
Rents
Great Falls 97.1
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 112.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
Great Falls
96.8
Cost Index
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Great Falls and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 20.2 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 70.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (85.0 to 14.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Great Falls RPP | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 85.3 | 105.4 | 20.2 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2012 | 92.3 | 105.1 | 12.8 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2016 | 88.0 | 103.8 | 15.8 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2020 | 87.0 | 104.5 | 17.5 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2024 | 96.8 | 103.6 | 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 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin more expensive than Great Falls?
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 7% more expensive than Great Falls. The overall cost index is 103.6 vs 96.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin equals $100K in Great Falls?
A $100,000 salary in Great Falls has the same purchasing power as $106,970 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Great Falls and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
Rents in Great Falls are indexed at 97.1 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.