Overall
- Wenatchee-East Wenatchee
- 103.9
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
Diff -0.3 RPP
Wenatchee-East Wenatchee vs Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 0.3% less expensive than Wenatchee-East Wenatchee.
0.3% less expensive
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN is 0.3% less expensive than Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.6 vs 103.9). A $100,000 salary in Wenatchee-East Wenatchee buys about the same as $99,750 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 103.9 (Wenatchee-East Wenatchee) vs 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin)
- $100k in Wenatchee-East Wenatchee ≈ $99,750 purchasing power in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- Services drives the gap (-17.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:IL 103.9→103.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WA × IL
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 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.
Wenatchee-East Wenatchee
103.9
Cost Index
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN 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.
Services creates the largest separation: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 17.0 points lower. But goods 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 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.
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 Wenatchee-East Wenatchee to $99,750 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Wenatchee-East Wenatchee
- 105.0
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 107.3
Diff +2.2 RPP
Services
- Wenatchee-East Wenatchee
- 100.6
Diff -17.0 RPP
Rents
- Wenatchee-East Wenatchee
- 115.0
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
Diff -2.9 RPP
| Category | Wenatchee-East Wenatchee | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.9 | 103.6 | -0.3 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 107.3 | +2.2 |
| Services | 100.6 | 83.6 | -17.0 |
| Rents | 115.0 | 112.0 | -2.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Wenatchee-East Wenatchee 103.9
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
Goods
Wenatchee-East Wenatchee 105.0
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
Services
Wenatchee-East Wenatchee 100.6
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
Rents
Wenatchee-East Wenatchee 115.0
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 112.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Wenatchee-East Wenatchee and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 7.6 to 0.3 RPP points. Wenatchee-East Wenatchee remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 46.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (29.4 to 17.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Wenatchee-East Wenatchee RPP | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.8 | 105.4 | 7.6 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2012 | 97.0 | 105.1 | 8.1 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2016 | 97.6 | 103.8 | 6.2 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2020 | 102.4 | 104.5 | 2.1 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2024 | 103.9 | 103.6 | 0.3 points Wenatchee-East Wenatchee 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 Wenatchee-East Wenatchee would need to be in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin for the same purchasing power:
| In Wenatchee-East Wenatchee | In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,875 | $-125 |
| $75,000 | $74,812 | $-188 |
| $100,000 | $99,750 | $-250 |
| $150,000 | $149,624 | $-376 |
$ in Wenatchee-East Wenatchee = in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.9 → 103.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Chicago-Naperville-Elgin more expensive than Wenatchee-East Wenatchee?
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 0.3% less expensive than Wenatchee-East Wenatchee. The overall cost index is 103.6 vs 103.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin equals $100K in Wenatchee-East Wenatchee?
A $100,000 salary in Wenatchee-East Wenatchee has the same purchasing power as $99,750 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Wenatchee-East Wenatchee and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
Rents in Wenatchee-East Wenatchee are indexed at 115.0 while Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is at 112.0 (national average = 100). Wenatchee-East Wenatchee 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.