Overall
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 96.9
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
Diff +6.7 RPP
Milwaukee-Waukesha vs Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 6.9% more expensive than Milwaukee-Waukesha.
6.9% more expensive
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN is 6.9% more expensive than Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.6 vs 96.9). A $100,000 salary in Milwaukee-Waukesha buys about the same as $106,868 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 96.9 (Milwaukee-Waukesha) vs 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin)
- $100k in Milwaukee-Waukesha ≈ $106,868 purchasing power in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- Rents drives the gap (+14.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WI:IL 96.9→103.6
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE WI × 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
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 93.8
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 107.3
Diff +13.5 RPP
Services
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 91.6
Diff -8.0 RPP
Rents
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 97.1
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
Diff +14.9 RPP
| Category | Milwaukee-Waukesha | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 96.9 | 103.6 | +6.7 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 107.3 | +13.5 |
| Services | 91.6 | 83.6 | -8.0 |
| Rents | 97.1 | 112.0 | +14.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Milwaukee-Waukesha 96.9
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
Goods
Milwaukee-Waukesha 93.8
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
Services
Milwaukee-Waukesha 91.6
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
Rents
Milwaukee-Waukesha 97.1
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 112.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 14.9 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 6.9% more expensive than Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 6.7-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is above 100 while Milwaukee-Waukesha 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 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 Milwaukee-Waukesha corresponds to $106,868 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin.
Milwaukee-Waukesha
96.9
Cost Index
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Milwaukee-Waukesha would need to be in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin for the same purchasing power:
| In Milwaukee-Waukesha | In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $53,434 | +$3,434 |
| $75,000 | $80,151 | +$5,151 |
| $100,000 | $106,868 | +$6,868 |
| $150,000 | $160,303 | +$10,303 |
$ in Milwaukee-Waukesha = in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (96.9 → 103.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Milwaukee-Waukesha and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 7.7 to 6.7 RPP points. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 10.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (25.2 to 14.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Milwaukee-Waukesha RPP | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.7 | 105.4 | 7.7 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2012 | 97.6 | 105.1 | 7.5 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2016 | 99.1 | 103.8 | 4.7 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2020 | 95.7 | 104.5 | 8.7 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2024 | 96.9 | 103.6 | 6.7 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 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 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin more expensive than Milwaukee-Waukesha?
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 6.9% more expensive than Milwaukee-Waukesha. The overall cost index is 103.6 vs 96.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin equals $100K in Milwaukee-Waukesha?
A $100,000 salary in Milwaukee-Waukesha has the same purchasing power as $106,868 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Milwaukee-Waukesha and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
Rents in Milwaukee-Waukesha are indexed at 97.1 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.