Overall
- Jacksonville
- 99.5
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
Diff +4.1 RPP
Jacksonville vs Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 4.1% more expensive than Jacksonville.
4.1% more expensive
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN is 4.1% more expensive than Jacksonville, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.6 vs 99.5). A $100,000 salary in Jacksonville buys about the same as $104,132 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 99.5 (Jacksonville) vs 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin)
- $100k in Jacksonville ≈ $104,132 purchasing power in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- Goods drives the gap (+11.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:IL 99.5→103.6
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE FL × IL
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Jacksonville
- 96.2
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 107.3
Diff +11.0 RPP
Services
- Jacksonville
- 87.5
Diff -3.9 RPP
Rents
- Jacksonville
- 109.8
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
Diff +2.2 RPP
| Category | Jacksonville | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 99.5 | 103.6 | +4.1 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 107.3 | +11.0 |
| Services | 87.5 | 83.6 | -3.9 |
| Rents | 109.8 | 112.0 | +2.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Jacksonville 99.5
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
Goods
Jacksonville 96.2
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
Services
Jacksonville 87.5
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
Rents
Jacksonville 109.8
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 112.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Goods creates the largest separation: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 11.0 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN is 4.1% more expensive than Jacksonville, FL, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 4.1-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is above 100 while Jacksonville is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
For a goods-led difference, remember that many tradable prices vary less by address than housing or labor-priced services. Use $104,132 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Jacksonville, then replace the national basket with your own.
Jacksonville
99.5
Cost Index
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Jacksonville would need to be in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin for the same purchasing power:
| In Jacksonville | In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,066 | +$2,066 |
| $75,000 | $78,099 | +$3,099 |
| $100,000 | $104,132 | +$4,132 |
| $150,000 | $156,198 | +$6,198 |
$ in Jacksonville = in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (99.5 → 103.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Chicago-Naperville-Elgin more expensive than Jacksonville?
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 4.1% more expensive than Jacksonville. The overall cost index is 103.6 vs 99.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin equals $100K in Jacksonville?
A $100,000 salary in Jacksonville has the same purchasing power as $104,132 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Jacksonville and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
Rents in Jacksonville are indexed at 109.8 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.