2026 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Rio Rancho, NM vs Chico, CA

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Chico or is it cheaper to live in Rio Rancho?
- Chico is 16.2% more expensive than Rio Rancho.

Which city has more affordable housing, Chico or Rio Rancho?
- Chico housing costs are 67.0% more expensive than Rio Rancho housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Rio Rancho or is Health Care more affordable in Chico.
- Health related expenses are 50.8% more in Chico.
 Rio Rancho, NMChico, CAUnited States
 Overall  Unlock110.3100
 Food & Groceries95.4  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock120.8100
 Housing87.1  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$440,000$338,100
 Utilities100  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock84.9100
 Miscellaneous106.3  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Rio Rancho    21 Reviews

I have lived in the area for the past three years with my husband. Although vastly better than Albuquerque, this is not a safe area. We have had overt and petty crime on  More

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The pros: -Fairly good year-round weather. Sunny days outnumber cloudy days, there are days when the temps fall below freezing and the sun will still be shining. It's  More

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Over 6 years ago

Affordable housing, low crime (compared to Albuquerque), awesome weather with all 4 seasons, beautiful environment and some pretty awesome people. I love Rio Rancho,  More

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Reviews for Chico    31 Reviews

Chico is imperfect like most places, but it's still good. Any and all of it's issues proceed from it's main fault of growing increasingly liberal, which is to be  More

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Uuwuu · 
Over 4 years ago

Chico's decent. I've been living here for ~5 years now. Eveen though my brother loves Chico and would like to stay, I would like to leave. I have no issues with crime or  More

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I was born in Oroville and I grew up in Oroville and Biggs. I have heard all my life about crime in chico. Well I have lived in Chico near Chapman for almost 10 years  More

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