Overall
Diff +0.1 RPP
Kenosha vs Chico
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Chico is 0.1% more expensive than Kenosha.
0.1% more expensive
Chico, CA is 0.1% more expensive than Kenosha, WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 101.2 vs 101.1). A $100,000 salary in Kenosha buys about the same as $100,078 in Chico; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 101.1 (Kenosha) vs 101.2 (Chico)
- $100k in Kenosha ≈ $100,078 purchasing power in Chico
- Services drives the gap (+73.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WI:CA 101.1→101.2
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WI × CA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 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.
Kenosha
101.1
Cost Index
Chico
101.2
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Kenosha, WI and Chico, CA 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: Chico is 73.0 points higher. But rents and goods 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 exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
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 Kenosha to $100,078 in Chico, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -1.0 RPP
Services
Diff +73.0 RPP
Rents
Diff -3.9 RPP
| Category | Kenosha | Chico | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 101.1 | 101.2 | +0.1 |
| Goods | 106.2 | 105.2 | -1.0 |
| Services | 85.9 | 158.8 | +73.0 |
| Rents | 95.8 | 91.9 | -3.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Kenosha 101.1
Chico 101.2
Goods
Kenosha 106.2
Chico 105.2
Services
Kenosha 85.9
Chico 158.8
Rents
Kenosha 95.8
Chico 91.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Kenosha and Chico share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 4.3 to 0.1 RPP points. Chico remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 73.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (0.6 to 73.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Kenosha RPP | Chico RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 103.7 | 99.4 | 4.3 points Kenosha higher |
| 2012 | 99.3 | 103.5 | 4.2 points Chico higher |
| 2016 | 100.2 | 97.1 | 3.1 points Kenosha higher |
| 2020 | 99.4 | 101.8 | 2.4 points Chico higher |
| 2024 | 101.1 | 101.2 | 0.1 points Chico 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 Kenosha would need to be in Chico for the same purchasing power:
| In Kenosha | In Chico | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,039 | +$39 |
| $75,000 | $75,059 | +$59 |
| $100,000 | $100,078 | +$78 |
| $150,000 | $150,117 | +$117 |
$ in Kenosha = in Chico
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (101.1 → 101.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Chico more expensive than Kenosha?
Chico is 0.1% more expensive than Kenosha. The overall cost index is 101.2 vs 101.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Chico equals $100K in Kenosha?
A $100,000 salary in Kenosha has the same purchasing power as $100,078 in Chico. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Kenosha and Chico?
Rents in Kenosha are indexed at 95.8 while Chico is at 91.9 (national average = 100). Kenosha 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.