Overall
- Chico
- 101.2
Diff -12.4 RPP
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim vs Chico
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Chico is 10.9% less expensive than Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim.
10.9% less expensive
Chico, CA is 10.9% less expensive than Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 101.2 vs 113.6). A $100,000 salary in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim buys about the same as $89,109 in Chico; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 113.6 (Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim) vs 101.2 (Chico)
- $100k in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim ≈ $89,109 purchasing power in Chico
- Rents drives the gap (-78.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:CA 113.6→101.2
TIER-GAP · SAME-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- SAME-STATE Same state · CA
- 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
- Chico
- 105.2
Diff -1.5 RPP
Services
- Chico
- 158.8
Diff +0.2 RPP
Rents
- Chico
- 91.9
Diff -78.5 RPP
| Category | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim | Chico | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 113.6 | 101.2 | -12.4 |
| Goods | 106.6 | 105.2 | -1.5 |
| Services | 158.6 | 158.8 | +0.2 |
| Rents | 170.4 | 91.9 | -78.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 113.6
Chico 101.2
Goods
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 106.6
Chico 105.2
Services
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 158.6
Chico 158.8
Rents
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 170.4
Chico 91.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Chico is 78.5 points lower. But services 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 Chico, CA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 12.4 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 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 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim corresponds to $89,109 in Chico.
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim
113.6
Cost Index
Chico
101.2
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim would need to be in Chico for the same purchasing power:
| In Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim | In Chico | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $44,554 | $-5,446 |
| $75,000 | $66,831 | $-8,169 |
| $100,000 | $89,109 | $-10,891 |
| $150,000 | $133,663 | $-16,337 |
$ in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim = in Chico
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (113.6 → 101.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim and Chico share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 13.9 to 12.4 RPP points. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 16.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (16.2 to 0.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim RPP | Chico RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 113.3 | 99.4 | 13.9 points Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim higher |
| 2012 | 112.1 | 103.5 | 8.6 points Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim higher |
| 2016 | 111.3 | 97.1 | 14.2 points Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim higher |
| 2020 | 113.9 | 101.8 | 12.1 points Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim higher |
| 2024 | 113.6 | 101.2 | 12.4 points Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Chico more expensive than Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim?
Chico is 10.9% less expensive than Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim. The overall cost index is 101.2 vs 113.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Chico equals $100K in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim?
A $100,000 salary in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim has the same purchasing power as $89,109 in Chico. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim and Chico?
Rents in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim are indexed at 170.4 while Chico is at 91.9 (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.