Overall
- Rockford
- 92.2
Diff -0.3 RPP
Rockford vs Augusta-Richmond County
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Augusta-Richmond County is 0.3% less expensive than Rockford.
0.3% less expensive
Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC is 0.3% less expensive than Rockford, IL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.9 vs 92.2). A $100,000 salary in Rockford buys about the same as $99,728 in Augusta-Richmond County; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 92.2 (Rockford) vs 91.9 (Augusta-Richmond County)
- $100k in Rockford ≈ $99,728 purchasing power in Augusta-Richmond County
- Goods drives the gap (+2.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IL:GA 92.2→91.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IL × GA
- 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.
Rockford
92.2
Cost Index
Augusta-Richmond County
91.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rockford, IL and Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Goods creates the largest separation: Augusta-Richmond County is 2.7 points higher. But goods and rents and 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 goods-led difference, remember that many tradable prices vary less by address than housing or labor-priced services. Use $99,728 in Augusta-Richmond County as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Rockford, then replace the national basket with your own.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Rockford
- 93.6
Diff +2.7 RPP
Services
- Rockford
- 89.4
Diff +0.1 RPP
Rents
- Rockford
- 70.1
Diff +0.5 RPP
| Category | Rockford | Augusta-Richmond County | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.2 | 91.9 | -0.3 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 96.3 | +2.7 |
| Services | 89.4 | 89.5 | +0.1 |
| Rents | 70.1 | 70.6 | +0.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Rockford 92.2
Augusta-Richmond County 91.9
Goods
Rockford 93.6
Augusta-Richmond County 96.3
Services
Rockford 89.4
Augusta-Richmond County 89.5
Rents
Rockford 70.1
Augusta-Richmond County 70.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Rockford would need to be in Augusta-Richmond County for the same purchasing power:
| In Rockford | In Augusta-Richmond County | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,864 | $-136 |
| $75,000 | $74,796 | $-204 |
| $100,000 | $99,728 | $-272 |
| $150,000 | $149,591 | $-409 |
$ in Rockford = in Augusta-Richmond County
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.2 → 91.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Augusta-Richmond County more expensive than Rockford?
Augusta-Richmond County is 0.3% less expensive than Rockford. The overall cost index is 91.9 vs 92.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Augusta-Richmond County equals $100K in Rockford?
A $100,000 salary in Rockford has the same purchasing power as $99,728 in Augusta-Richmond County. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Rockford and Augusta-Richmond County?
Rents in Rockford are indexed at 70.1 while Augusta-Richmond County is at 70.6 (national average = 100). Augusta-Richmond County 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.