Overall
- Richmond
- 97.9
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
Diff +5.7 RPP
Richmond vs Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 5.9% more expensive than Richmond.
5.9% more expensive
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN is 5.9% more expensive than Richmond, VA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.6 vs 97.9). A $100,000 salary in Richmond buys about the same as $105,863 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 97.9 (Richmond) vs 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin)
- $100k in Richmond ≈ $105,863 purchasing power in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- Rents drives the gap (+12.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair VA:IL 97.9→103.6
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE VA × 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
- Richmond
- 96.8
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 107.3
Diff +10.5 RPP
Services
- Richmond
- 89.2
Diff -5.6 RPP
Rents
- Richmond
- 99.1
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
Diff +12.9 RPP
| Category | Richmond | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.9 | 103.6 | +5.7 |
| Goods | 96.8 | 107.3 | +10.5 |
| Services | 89.2 | 83.6 | -5.6 |
| Rents | 99.1 | 112.0 | +12.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Richmond 97.9
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
Goods
Richmond 96.8
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
Services
Richmond 89.2
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
Rents
Richmond 99.1
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 12.9 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 5.9% more expensive than Richmond, VA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.7-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is above 100 while Richmond 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 Richmond corresponds to $105,863 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin.
Richmond
97.9
Cost Index
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Richmond would need to be in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin for the same purchasing power:
| In Richmond | In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,931 | +$2,931 |
| $75,000 | $79,397 | +$4,397 |
| $100,000 | $105,863 | +$5,863 |
| $150,000 | $158,794 | +$8,794 |
$ in Richmond = in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.9 → 103.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Richmond and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 7.3 to 5.7 RPP points. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 13.7 points between the first and latest shared releases (8.1 to 5.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Richmond RPP | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 98.1 | 105.4 | 7.3 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2012 | 98.6 | 105.1 | 6.5 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2016 | 99.3 | 103.8 | 4.5 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2020 | 95.9 | 104.5 | 8.6 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2024 | 97.9 | 103.6 | 5.7 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 Richmond?
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 5.9% more expensive than Richmond. The overall cost index is 103.6 vs 97.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin equals $100K in Richmond?
A $100,000 salary in Richmond has the same purchasing power as $105,863 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Richmond and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
Rents in Richmond are indexed at 99.1 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.