Overall
- Rockford
- 92.2
- Winston-Salem
- 92.0
Diff -0.1 RPP
Rockford vs Winston-Salem
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Winston-Salem is 0.1% less expensive than Rockford.
0.1% less expensive
Winston-Salem, NC is 0.1% less expensive than Rockford, IL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.0 vs 92.2). A $100,000 salary in Rockford buys about the same as $99,880 in Winston-Salem; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 92.2 (Rockford) vs 92.0 (Winston-Salem)
- $100k in Rockford ≈ $99,880 purchasing power in Winston-Salem
- Goods drives the gap (+3.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IL:NC 92.2→92.0
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
Winston-Salem
92.0
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rockford, IL and Winston-Salem, 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: Winston-Salem 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 $99,880 in Winston-Salem as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Rockford, then replace the national basket with your own.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Rockford
- 93.6
- Winston-Salem
- 96.6
Diff +3.0 RPP
Services
- Rockford
- 89.4
- Winston-Salem
- 88.4
Diff -1.0 RPP
Rents
- Rockford
- 70.1
- Winston-Salem
- 71.4
Diff +1.3 RPP
| Category | Rockford | Winston-Salem | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.2 | 92.0 | -0.1 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 96.6 | +3.0 |
| Services | 89.4 | 88.4 | -1.0 |
| Rents | 70.1 | 71.4 | +1.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Rockford 92.2
Winston-Salem 92.0
Goods
Rockford 93.6
Winston-Salem 96.6
Services
Rockford 89.4
Winston-Salem 88.4
Rents
Rockford 70.1
Winston-Salem 71.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Rockford and Winston-Salem share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 4.8 to 0.1 RPP points. Rockford remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 16.7 points between the first and latest shared releases (15.4 to 1.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Rockford RPP | Winston-Salem RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 96.7 | 91.9 | 4.8 points Rockford higher |
| 2012 | 93.9 | 92.6 | 1.3 points Rockford higher |
| 2016 | 93.3 | 93.1 | 0.2 points Rockford higher |
| 2020 | 91.8 | 89.5 | 2.3 points Rockford higher |
| 2024 | 92.2 | 92.0 | 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 Winston-Salem for the same purchasing power:
| In Rockford | In Winston-Salem | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,940 | $-60 |
| $75,000 | $74,910 | $-90 |
| $100,000 | $99,880 | $-120 |
| $150,000 | $149,819 | $-181 |
$ in Rockford = in Winston-Salem
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.2 → 92.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Also Compare
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Winston-Salem more expensive than Rockford?
Winston-Salem is 0.1% less expensive than Rockford. The overall cost index is 92.0 vs 92.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Winston-Salem equals $100K in Rockford?
A $100,000 salary in Rockford has the same purchasing power as $99,880 in Winston-Salem. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Rockford and Winston-Salem?
Rents in Rockford are indexed at 70.1 while Winston-Salem is at 71.4 (national average = 100). Winston-Salem 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.