Overall
- Portland-South Portland
- 101.9
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
Diff +1.7 RPP
Portland-South Portland vs Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 1.7% more expensive than Portland-South Portland.
1.7% more expensive
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN is 1.7% more expensive than Portland-South Portland, ME on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.6 vs 101.9). A $100,000 salary in Portland-South Portland buys about the same as $101,705 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 101.9 (Portland-South Portland) vs 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin)
- $100k in Portland-South Portland ≈ $101,705 purchasing power in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- Services drives the gap (-51.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair ME:IL 101.9→103.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE ME × 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.
Portland-South Portland
101.9
Cost Index
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Portland-South Portland, ME and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.7 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 51.0 points lower. 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 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.
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 Portland-South Portland to $101,705 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 107.3
Diff +10.1 RPP
Services
- Portland-South Portland
- 134.6
Diff -51.0 RPP
Rents
- Portland-South Portland
- 105.2
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
Diff +6.8 RPP
| Category | Portland-South Portland | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 101.9 | 103.6 | +1.7 |
| Goods | 97.2 | 107.3 | +10.1 |
| Services | 134.6 | 83.6 | -51.0 |
| Rents | 105.2 | 112.0 | +6.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Portland-South Portland 101.9
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
Goods
Portland-South Portland 97.2
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
Services
Portland-South Portland 134.6
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
Rents
Portland-South Portland 105.2
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 112.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Portland-South Portland and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 3.0 to 1.7 RPP points. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 8.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (15.7 to 6.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Portland-South Portland RPP | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 102.5 | 105.4 | 3.0 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2012 | 101.3 | 105.1 | 3.8 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2016 | 102.3 | 103.8 | 1.5 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2020 | 102.6 | 104.5 | 1.9 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2024 | 101.9 | 103.6 | 1.7 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Portland-South Portland would need to be in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin for the same purchasing power:
| In Portland-South Portland | In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,853 | +$853 |
| $75,000 | $76,279 | +$1,279 |
| $100,000 | $101,705 | +$1,705 |
| $150,000 | $152,558 | +$2,558 |
$ in Portland-South Portland = in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (101.9 → 103.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Chicago-Naperville-Elgin more expensive than Portland-South Portland?
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 1.7% more expensive than Portland-South Portland. The overall cost index is 103.6 vs 101.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin equals $100K in Portland-South Portland?
A $100,000 salary in Portland-South Portland has the same purchasing power as $101,705 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Portland-South Portland and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
Rents in Portland-South Portland are indexed at 105.2 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.