Overall
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
Diff -12.0 RPP
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont vs Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 10.4% less expensive than San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont.
10.4% less expensive
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN is 10.4% less expensive than San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.6 vs 115.6). A $100,000 salary in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont buys about the same as $89,605 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 115.6 (San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont) vs 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin)
- $100k in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont ≈ $89,605 purchasing power in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- Services drives the gap (-89.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:IL 115.6→103.6
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE CA × IL
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 100
- 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
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.
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 12.0 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
Services leads the difference, with Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 89.0 points lower than San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont to $89,605 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 107.3
Diff -1.2 RPP
Services
Diff -89.0 RPP
Rents
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
Diff -82.7 RPP
| Category | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 115.6 | 103.6 | -12.0 |
| Goods | 108.5 | 107.3 | -1.2 |
| Services | 172.6 | 83.6 | -89.0 |
| Rents | 194.7 | 112.0 | -82.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont 115.6
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
Goods
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont 108.5
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
Services
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont 172.6
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
Rents
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont 194.7
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 112.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont would need to be in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin for the same purchasing power:
| In San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont | In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $44,802 | $-5,198 |
| $75,000 | $67,204 | $-7,796 |
| $100,000 | $89,605 | $-10,395 |
| $150,000 | $134,407 | $-15,593 |
$ in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont = in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (115.6 → 103.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont
115.6
Cost Index
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Chicago-Naperville-Elgin more expensive than San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont?
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 10.4% less expensive than San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont. The overall cost index is 103.6 vs 115.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin equals $100K in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont?
A $100,000 salary in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont has the same purchasing power as $89,605 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
Rents in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont are indexed at 194.7 while Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is at 112.0 (national average = 100). San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont 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.