Overall
- Wichita Falls
- 89.5
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 103.6
Diff +14.1 RPP
Wichita Falls vs Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 15.7% more expensive than Wichita Falls.
15.7% more expensive
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN is 15.7% more expensive than Wichita Falls, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.6 vs 89.5). A $100,000 salary in Wichita Falls buys about the same as $115,732 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 89.5 (Wichita Falls) vs 103.6 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin)
- $100k in Wichita Falls ≈ $115,732 purchasing power in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- Rents drives the gap (+43.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:IL 89.5→103.6
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-STEEP
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE TX × IL
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-STEEP Steep PP convert
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
- Wichita Falls
- 93.8
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 107.3
Diff +13.5 RPP
Services
- Wichita Falls
- 84.1
Diff -0.5 RPP
Rents
- Wichita Falls
- 68.2
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 112.0
Diff +43.8 RPP
| Category | Wichita Falls | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 89.5 | 103.6 | +14.1 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 107.3 | +13.5 |
| Services | 84.1 | 83.6 | -0.5 |
| Rents | 68.2 | 112.0 | +43.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Wichita Falls 89.5
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 103.6
Goods
Wichita Falls 93.8
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 107.3
Services
Wichita Falls 84.1
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 83.6
Rents
Wichita Falls 68.2
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 43.8 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Wichita Falls, TX and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 14.1 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is above 100 while Wichita Falls 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 Wichita Falls corresponds to $115,732 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin.
Wichita Falls
89.5
Cost Index
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
103.6
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Wichita Falls would need to be in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin for the same purchasing power:
| In Wichita Falls | In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $57,866 | +$7,866 |
| $75,000 | $86,799 | +$11,799 |
| $100,000 | $115,732 | +$15,732 |
| $150,000 | $173,598 | +$23,598 |
$ in Wichita Falls = in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (89.5 → 103.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Wichita Falls and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 11.9 to 14.1 RPP points. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Goods changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 5.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (7.7 to 13.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Wichita Falls RPP | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 93.5 | 105.4 | 11.9 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2012 | 94.0 | 105.1 | 11.2 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2016 | 93.0 | 103.8 | 10.8 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2020 | 92.5 | 104.5 | 11.9 points Chicago-Naperville-Elgin higher |
| 2024 | 89.5 | 103.6 | 14.1 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 Wichita Falls?
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is 15.7% more expensive than Wichita Falls. The overall cost index is 103.6 vs 89.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin equals $100K in Wichita Falls?
A $100,000 salary in Wichita Falls has the same purchasing power as $115,732 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Wichita Falls and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin?
Rents in Wichita Falls are indexed at 68.2 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.