Overall
- Rockford
- 92.2
- Jacksonville
- 92.1
Diff -0.1 RPP
Rockford vs Jacksonville
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Jacksonville is 0.1% less expensive than Rockford.
0.1% less expensive
Jacksonville, NC is 0.1% less expensive than Rockford, IL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.1 vs 92.2). A $100,000 salary in Rockford buys about the same as $99,925 in Jacksonville; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 92.2 (Rockford) vs 92.1 (Jacksonville)
- $100k in Rockford ≈ $99,925 purchasing power in Jacksonville
- Goods drives the gap (+3.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IL:NC 92.2→92.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IL × NC
- 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
Jacksonville
92.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rockford, IL and Jacksonville, NC are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Goods creates the largest separation: Jacksonville is 3.0 points higher. But goods and rents 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 $99,925 in Jacksonville as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Rockford, then replace the national basket with your own.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Rockford
- 93.6
- Jacksonville
- 96.6
Diff +3.0 RPP
Services
- Rockford
- 89.4
- Jacksonville
- 87.2
Diff -2.1 RPP
Rents
- Rockford
- 70.1
- Jacksonville
- 72.1
Diff +2.0 RPP
| Category | Rockford | Jacksonville | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.2 | 92.1 | -0.1 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 96.6 | +3.0 |
| Services | 89.4 | 87.2 | -2.1 |
| Rents | 70.1 | 72.1 | +2.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Rockford 92.2
Jacksonville 92.1
Goods
Rockford 93.6
Jacksonville 96.6
Services
Rockford 89.4
Jacksonville 87.2
Rents
Rockford 70.1
Jacksonville 72.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Rockford and Jacksonville share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.8 to 0.1 RPP points. Rockford remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 10.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (12.2 to 2.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Rockford RPP | Jacksonville RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 96.7 | 93.9 | 2.8 points Rockford higher |
| 2012 | 93.9 | 95.5 | 1.6 points Jacksonville higher |
| 2016 | 93.3 | 93.7 | 0.5 points Jacksonville higher |
| 2020 | 91.8 | 88.3 | 3.4 points Rockford higher |
| 2024 | 92.2 | 92.1 | 0.1 points Rockford 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 Rockford would need to be in Jacksonville for the same purchasing power:
| In Rockford | In Jacksonville | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,963 | $-37 |
| $75,000 | $74,944 | $-56 |
| $100,000 | $99,925 | $-75 |
| $150,000 | $149,888 | $-112 |
$ in Rockford = in Jacksonville
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.2 → 92.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Also Compare
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Jacksonville more expensive than Rockford?
Jacksonville is 0.1% less expensive than Rockford. The overall cost index is 92.1 vs 92.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Jacksonville equals $100K in Rockford?
A $100,000 salary in Rockford has the same purchasing power as $99,925 in Jacksonville. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Rockford and Jacksonville?
Rents in Rockford are indexed at 70.1 while Jacksonville is at 72.1 (national average = 100). Jacksonville 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.