Overall
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
Diff -10.0 RPP
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim vs Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 8.8% less expensive than Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim.
8.8% less expensive
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN is 8.8% less expensive than Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.6 vs 113.6). A $100,000 salary in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim buys about the same as $91,220 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 113.6 (Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim) vs 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin)
- $100k in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim ≈ $91,220 purchasing power in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- Services drives the gap (-75.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:IL 113.6→103.6
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE CA × IL
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 100
- 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
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 107.3
Diff +0.6 RPP
Services
Diff -75.0 RPP
Rents
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
Diff -58.4 RPP
| Category | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 113.6 | 103.6 | -10.0 |
| Goods | 106.6 | 107.3 | +0.6 |
| Services | 158.6 | 83.6 | -75.0 |
| Rents | 170.4 | 112.0 | -58.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 113.6
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
Goods
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 106.6
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
Services
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 158.6
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
Rents
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 170.4
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 112.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 75.0 points lower. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 10.0 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
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.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim to $91,220 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim
113.6
Cost Index
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim would need to be in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin for the same purchasing power:
| In Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim | In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $45,610 | $-4,390 |
| $75,000 | $68,415 | $-6,585 |
| $100,000 | $91,220 | $-8,780 |
| $150,000 | $136,830 | $-13,170 |
$ in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim = in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (113.6 → 103.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Chicago-Naperville-Elgin more expensive than Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim?
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 8.8% less expensive than Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim. The overall cost index is 103.6 vs 113.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin equals $100K in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim?
A $100,000 salary in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim has the same purchasing power as $91,220 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
Rents in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim are indexed at 170.4 while Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is at 112.0 (national average = 100). Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 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.