Peoria vs Lincoln

Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lincoln is 0.4% more expensive than Peoria.

0.4% more expensive

Lincoln, NE is 0.4% more expensive than Peoria, IL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.6 vs 91.2). A $100,000 salary in Peoria buys about the same as $100,384 in Lincoln; the largest component gap is rents.

  • Overall RPP 91.2 (Peoria) vs 91.6 (Lincoln)
  • $100k in Peoria ≈ $100,384 purchasing power in Lincoln
  • Rents drives the gap (+20.4 RPP points)

RPP parity plate

Pair IL:NE 91.2→91.6

PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR

  • PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
  • CROSS-STATE IL × NE
  • SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
  • BOTH-BELOW Both below 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.

Peoria
91.2
Cost Index
Lincoln
91.6
Cost Index

What This Comparison Actually Tells You

Peoria, IL and Lincoln, NE are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.4 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.

Rents creates the largest separation: Lincoln is 20.4 points higher. But services 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 remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.

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 Peoria corresponds to $100,384 in Lincoln.

Category Breakdown

Visual Comparison

Overall
Peoria
91.2
Lincoln
91.6
Goods
Peoria
93.6
Lincoln
94.1
Services
Peoria
90.5
Lincoln
76.8
Rents
Peoria
63.8
Lincoln
84.2

Vertical line = national average (100)

Salary Equivalents

What a salary in Peoria would need to be in Lincoln for the same purchasing power:

In Peoria In Lincoln Difference
$50,000 $50,192 +$192
$75,000 $75,288 +$288
$100,000 $100,384 +$384
$150,000 $150,575 +$575
$ in Peoria = in Lincoln

Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.2 → 91.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Lincoln more expensive than Peoria?

Lincoln is 0.4% more expensive than Peoria. The overall cost index is 91.6 vs 91.2 (national average = 100).

What salary in Lincoln equals $100K in Peoria?

A $100,000 salary in Peoria has the same purchasing power as $100,384 in Lincoln. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.

How do rents compare between Peoria and Lincoln?

Rents in Peoria are indexed at 63.8 while Lincoln is at 84.2 (national average = 100). Lincoln has higher rents.

Data sourced from official public datasets, Regional Price Parities (2024), index where national average = 100. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCost. See our methodology for details.

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.