Illinois vs Colorado

Household income

Currently in

Moving to

Your $100,000 in Illinois is worth

$100,000

at national prices · RPP 100.0BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

The same income in Colorado is worth

$96,993

at national prices · RPP 103.1BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

Your income goes −$3,007 less far in Colorado (−3.0% purchasing power).

Show the math

adjusted = income ÷ (RPP ÷ 100)

Illinois: $100,000 ÷ (100.0 ÷ 100) = $100,000

Colorado: $100,000 ÷ (103.1 ÷ 100) = $96,993

difference: $96,993 − $100,000 = −$3,007

Where the difference comes from

Price level by component, 100 = US average. Higher means more expensive.

Regional price parity by component for the two states, with the percentage difference.
Component	Illinois	Colorado	Difference
All items	100.0	103.1	+3.1%
Housing rents	93.9	127.4	+35.7%
Goods	103.8	98.7	−4.9%
Utilities	85.0	85.0	0.0%
Other services	100.2	99.6	−0.6%

BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 · rel. February 2026 · Official API

Housing reality check

Typical rent and home price in each state — tangible context beyond the index.

IllinoisMedian rent$1,274/moMedian home$263,300

ColoradoMedian rent$1,761/moMedian home$539,400

US Census ACS 5-Year Estimates · ACS5 · 2024 · rel. December 2025 · Official API

Tax at a glance

Hand-curated, tax year 2026 · verified 2026-07-20

Income and sales tax for the two states.
Tax	Illinois	Colorado
Income tax (top rate)	4.95%	4.40%
Sales tax (combined avg)	8.96%	7.89%

Tax Foundation (income & sales) · Tax · 2026 · rel. tax year 2026 · Manually maintained · verified 2026-07-20

Official API Manually maintained2 of 3 metrics sourced from official APIs, 1 manually maintained. How every number is calculated →

Illinois vs Colorado: the read

The bottom line

Move a $100,000 income from Illinois to Colorado and its purchasing power changes from $100,000 to $96,993 in national-average terms — a loss of $3,007. Illinois is the cheaper of the two, running at 100 on the price index versus 103.1.

Where the difference comes from

The widest gap is housing rents: Illinois sits at 93.9 and Colorado at 127.4 (100 = national). Illinois has the edge there, and it's the main reason the two states diverge.

Housing

Median rent runs $1,274 in Illinois against $1,761 in Colorado, and the typical home $263,300 versus $539,400. Illinois is the more affordable place to buy.

Taxes

On tax, Illinois has 4.95% top income tax and a combined sales tax of 8.96%; Colorado has 4.40% top income tax and 7.89%. Weigh both against the purchasing-power figure above.

Full profiles: Illinois ·Colorado. Every figure here is sourced on the pages linked above.

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