Overall
- Walla Walla
- 98.5
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
Diff +5.1 RPP
Walla Walla vs Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 5.2% more expensive than Walla Walla.
5.2% more expensive
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN is 5.2% more expensive than Walla Walla, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.6 vs 98.5). A $100,000 salary in Walla Walla buys about the same as $105,152 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.5 (Walla Walla) vs 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin)
- $100k in Walla Walla ≈ $105,152 purchasing power in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- Rents drives the gap (+25.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:IL 98.5→103.6
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE WA × 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
- Walla Walla
- 105.0
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 107.3
Diff +2.2 RPP
Services
- Walla Walla
- 94.3
Diff -10.7 RPP
Rents
- Walla Walla
- 86.6
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
Diff +25.4 RPP
| Category | Walla Walla | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.5 | 103.6 | +5.1 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 107.3 | +2.2 |
| Services | 94.3 | 83.6 | -10.7 |
| Rents | 86.6 | 112.0 | +25.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Walla Walla 98.5
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
Goods
Walla Walla 105.0
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
Services
Walla Walla 94.3
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
Rents
Walla Walla 86.6
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 25.4 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 5.2% more expensive than Walla Walla, WA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.1-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is above 100 while Walla Walla 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 Walla Walla corresponds to $105,152 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin.
Walla Walla
98.5
Cost Index
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Walla Walla would need to be in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin for the same purchasing power:
| In Walla Walla | In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,576 | +$2,576 |
| $75,000 | $78,864 | +$3,864 |
| $100,000 | $105,152 | +$5,152 |
| $150,000 | $157,728 | +$7,728 |
$ in Walla Walla = in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.5 → 103.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Walla Walla and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 9.8 to 5.1 RPP points. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 38.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (28.2 to 10.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Walla Walla RPP | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.6 | 105.4 | 9.8 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2012 | 95.1 | 105.1 | 10.0 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2016 | 96.3 | 103.8 | 7.5 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2020 | 95.2 | 104.5 | 9.3 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2024 | 98.5 | 103.6 | 5.1 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 Walla Walla?
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 5.2% more expensive than Walla Walla. The overall cost index is 103.6 vs 98.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin equals $100K in Walla Walla?
A $100,000 salary in Walla Walla has the same purchasing power as $105,152 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Walla Walla and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
Rents in Walla Walla are indexed at 86.6 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.