Overall
- Green Bay
- 93.1
- Champaign-Urbana
- 92.7
Diff -0.4 RPP
Green Bay vs Champaign-Urbana
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Champaign-Urbana is 0.4% less expensive than Green Bay.
0.4% less expensive
Champaign-Urbana, IL is 0.4% less expensive than Green Bay, WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.7 vs 93.1). A $100,000 salary in Green Bay buys about the same as $99,590 in Champaign-Urbana; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 93.1 (Green Bay) vs 92.7 (Champaign-Urbana)
- $100k in Green Bay ≈ $99,590 purchasing power in Champaign-Urbana
- Rents drives the gap (-3.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WI:IL 93.1→92.7
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WI × 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.
Green Bay
93.1
Cost Index
Champaign-Urbana
92.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Green Bay, WI and Champaign-Urbana, IL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.4 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Champaign-Urbana is 3.1 points lower. But services 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 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 Green Bay corresponds to $99,590 in Champaign-Urbana.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Green Bay
- 93.8
- Champaign-Urbana
- 93.6
Diff -0.1 RPP
Services
- Green Bay
- 90.0
- Champaign-Urbana
- 90.5
Diff +0.4 RPP
Rents
- Green Bay
- 74.7
- Champaign-Urbana
- 71.6
Diff -3.1 RPP
| Category | Green Bay | Champaign-Urbana | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 93.1 | 92.7 | -0.4 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 93.6 | -0.1 |
| Services | 90.0 | 90.5 | +0.4 |
| Rents | 74.7 | 71.6 | -3.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Green Bay 93.1
Champaign-Urbana 92.7
Goods
Green Bay 93.8
Champaign-Urbana 93.6
Services
Green Bay 90.0
Champaign-Urbana 90.5
Rents
Green Bay 74.7
Champaign-Urbana 71.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Green Bay and Champaign-Urbana share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 1.5 to 0.4 RPP points. Green Bay remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 11.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (8.3 to 3.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Green Bay RPP | Champaign-Urbana RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 94.6 | 96.2 | 1.5 points Champaign-Urbana higher |
| 2012 | 92.9 | 94.2 | 1.2 points Champaign-Urbana higher |
| 2016 | 92.0 | 93.7 | 1.7 points Champaign-Urbana higher |
| 2020 | 92.1 | 91.9 | 0.2 points Green Bay higher |
| 2024 | 93.1 | 92.7 | 0.4 points Green Bay 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Green Bay would need to be in Champaign-Urbana for the same purchasing power:
| In Green Bay | In Champaign-Urbana | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,795 | $-205 |
| $75,000 | $74,692 | $-308 |
| $100,000 | $99,590 | $-410 |
| $150,000 | $149,384 | $-616 |
$ in Green Bay = in Champaign-Urbana
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (93.1 → 92.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Champaign-Urbana more expensive than Green Bay?
Champaign-Urbana is 0.4% less expensive than Green Bay. The overall cost index is 92.7 vs 93.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Champaign-Urbana equals $100K in Green Bay?
A $100,000 salary in Green Bay has the same purchasing power as $99,590 in Champaign-Urbana. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Green Bay and Champaign-Urbana?
Rents in Green Bay are indexed at 74.7 while Champaign-Urbana is at 71.6 (national average = 100). Green Bay 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.