Overall
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
Diff +2.2 RPP
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford vs Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 2.1% more expensive than Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford.
2.1% more expensive
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN is 2.1% more expensive than Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.6 vs 101.4). A $100,000 salary in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford buys about the same as $102,147 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 101.4 (Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford) vs 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin)
- $100k in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford ≈ $102,147 purchasing power in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- Rents drives the gap (-11.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:IL 101.4→103.6
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE FL × IL
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 107.3
Diff +11.0 RPP
Services
Diff -3.6 RPP
Rents
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
Diff -11.4 RPP
| Category | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 101.4 | 103.6 | +2.2 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 107.3 | +11.0 |
| Services | 87.2 | 83.6 | -3.6 |
| Rents | 123.4 | 112.0 | -11.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 101.4
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
Goods
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 96.2
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
Services
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 87.2
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
Rents
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 123.4
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 11.4 points lower. But rents and 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 2.1% more expensive than Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.2-point overall gap.
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 Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford corresponds to $102,147 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin.
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford
101.4
Cost Index
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford would need to be in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin for the same purchasing power:
| In Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford | In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,073 | +$1,073 |
| $75,000 | $76,610 | +$1,610 |
| $100,000 | $102,147 | +$2,147 |
| $150,000 | $153,220 | +$3,220 |
$ in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford = in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (101.4 → 103.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 4.1 to 2.2 RPP points. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 18.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (7.6 to 11.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford RPP | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 101.4 | 105.4 | 4.1 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2012 | 99.9 | 105.1 | 5.2 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2016 | 100.8 | 103.8 | 3.0 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2020 | 98.5 | 104.5 | 6.0 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2024 | 101.4 | 103.6 | 2.2 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 Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford?
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 2.1% more expensive than Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford. The overall cost index is 103.6 vs 101.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin equals $100K in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford?
A $100,000 salary in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford has the same purchasing power as $102,147 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
Rents in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford are indexed at 123.4 while Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is at 112.0 (national average = 100). Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 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.