Overall
- Jacksonville
- 92.1
- Rockford
- 92.2
Diff +0.1 RPP
Jacksonville vs Rockford
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Rockford is 0.1% more expensive than Jacksonville.
0.1% more expensive
Rockford, IL is 0.1% more expensive than Jacksonville, NC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.2 vs 92.1). A $100,000 salary in Jacksonville buys about the same as $100,075 in Rockford; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 92.1 (Jacksonville) vs 92.2 (Rockford)
- $100k in Jacksonville ≈ $100,075 purchasing power in Rockford
- Goods drives the gap (-3.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:IL 92.1→92.2
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NC × 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.
Jacksonville
92.1
Cost Index
Rockford
92.2
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Jacksonville, NC and Rockford, 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.
Goods creates the largest separation: Rockford is 3.0 points lower. 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 goods-led difference, remember that many tradable prices vary less by address than housing or labor-priced services. Use $100,075 in Rockford as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Jacksonville, then replace the national basket with your own.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Jacksonville
- 96.6
- Rockford
- 93.6
Diff -3.0 RPP
Services
- Jacksonville
- 87.2
- Rockford
- 89.4
Diff +2.1 RPP
Rents
- Jacksonville
- 72.1
- Rockford
- 70.1
Diff -2.0 RPP
| Category | Jacksonville | Rockford | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.1 | 92.2 | +0.1 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 93.6 | -3.0 |
| Services | 87.2 | 89.4 | +2.1 |
| Rents | 72.1 | 70.1 | -2.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Jacksonville 92.1
Rockford 92.2
Goods
Jacksonville 96.6
Rockford 93.6
Services
Jacksonville 87.2
Rockford 89.4
Rents
Jacksonville 72.1
Rockford 70.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Jacksonville and Rockford share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.8 to 0.1 RPP points. Rockford remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 10.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (12.2 to 2.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Jacksonville RPP | Rockford RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 93.9 | 96.7 | 2.8 points Rockford higher |
| 2012 | 95.5 | 93.9 | 1.6 points Jacksonville higher |
| 2016 | 93.7 | 93.3 | 0.5 points Jacksonville higher |
| 2020 | 88.3 | 91.8 | 3.4 points Rockford higher |
| 2024 | 92.1 | 92.2 | 0.1 points Rockford 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 Jacksonville would need to be in Rockford for the same purchasing power:
| In Jacksonville | In Rockford | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,037 | +$37 |
| $75,000 | $75,056 | +$56 |
| $100,000 | $100,075 | +$75 |
| $150,000 | $150,112 | +$112 |
$ in Jacksonville = in Rockford
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.1 → 92.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Also Compare
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Rockford more expensive than Jacksonville?
Rockford is 0.1% more expensive than Jacksonville. The overall cost index is 92.2 vs 92.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Rockford equals $100K in Jacksonville?
A $100,000 salary in Jacksonville has the same purchasing power as $100,075 in Rockford. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Jacksonville and Rockford?
Rents in Jacksonville are indexed at 72.1 while Rockford is at 70.1 (national average = 100). Jacksonville 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.