Midwest ranking
34 Illinois cities ranked by cost of living, cheapest first.
Index 80
Index 106
Sorted by cost-of-living index — lowest (most affordable) first.
| # | City | Cost index | Median rent | Median income | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Decatur | 80 | $770/mo | $49,039 | 71K | Compare → |
| 2 | Peoria | 83 | $917/mo | $58,068 | 113K | Compare → |
| 3 | Rockford | 85 | $906/mo | $50,744 | 148K | Compare → |
| 4 | Springfield | 86 | $913/mo | $62,419 | 114K | Compare → |
| 5 | Champaign | 86 | $1,056/mo | $58,273 | 89K | Compare → |
| 6 | Normal | 87 | $924/mo | $63,965 | 53K | Compare → |
| 7 | Bloomington | 87 | $959/mo | $73,119 | 79K | Compare → |
| 8 | Waukegan | 102 | $1,132/mo | $66,077 | 89K | Compare → |
| 9 | Cicero | 104 | $1,094/mo | $64,325 | 84K | Compare → |
| 10 | Berwyn | 104 | $1,106/mo | $71,300 | 57K | Compare → |
| 11 | Joliet | 104 | $1,174/mo | $84,971 | 150K | Compare → |
| 12 | Elgin | 104 | $1,190/mo | $85,998 | 114K | Compare → |
| 13 | Oak Lawn | 104 | $1,285/mo | $77,221 | 58K | Compare → |
| 14 | Des Plaines | 104 | $1,300/mo | $86,552 | 60K | Compare → |
| 15 | Chicago | 105 | $1,314/mo | $71,673 | 2.7M | Compare → |
| 16 | Mount Prospect | 105 | $1,368/mo | $100,526 | 56K | Compare → |
| 17 | Orland Park | 105 | $1,396/mo | $97,365 | 58K | Compare → |
| 18 | Tinley Park | 105 | $1,399/mo | $99,628 | 56K | Compare → |
| 19 | Oak Park | 105 | $1,409/mo | $103,264 | 54K | Compare → |
| 20 | Palatine | 105 | $1,427/mo | $93,383 | 67K | Compare → |
| 21 | Aurora | 105 | $1,462/mo | $85,943 | 181K | Compare → |
| 22 | Skokie | 105 | $1,470/mo | $91,892 | 67K | Compare → |
| 23 | Downers Grove | 105 | $1,535/mo | $115,461 | 50K | Compare → |
| 24 | Evanston | 105 | $1,625/mo | $93,188 | 77K | Compare → |
| 25 | Arlington Heights | 106 | $1,660/mo | $113,502 | 77K | Compare → |
| 26 | Bolingbrook | 106 | $1,658/mo | $102,057 | 74K | Compare → |
| 27 | Hoffman Estates | 106 | $1,661/mo | $107,428 | 52K | Compare → |
| 28 | Wheaton | 106 | $1,673/mo | $113,523 | 54K | Compare → |
| 29 | Schaumburg | 106 | $1,680/mo | $92,818 | 78K | Compare → |
| 30 | Lombard | 106 | $1,741/mo | $95,509 | 44K | Compare → |
| 31 | Naperville | 106 | $1,787/mo | $143,754 | 149K | Compare → |
| 32 | Elmhurst | 106 | $1,843/mo | $143,492 | 46K | Compare → |
| 33 | Plainfield | 106 | $1,847/mo | $143,064 | 45K | Compare → |
| 34 | Glenview | 106 | $1,950/mo | $134,910 | 48K | Compare → |
So you're thinking about Illinois. The strongest arguments for it are around decatur is one of the most affordable cities in the us and incomes run above the us median, plus 3 more. Detail on each below.
Decatur ranks as Illinois's most affordable city at a composite cost index of 80 (20% below US average). Worth a look as a baseline for the cost ceiling — most of the rest of the state's cities are more expensive than this, not less.
Across our Illinois city data, typical household income lands near $91,013. That's above the national median, which puts more cushion under whatever the local cost of living happens to be.
Living in Illinois comes with access to Chicago, a city of roughly 2,721,914 with the infrastructure that follows from real urban scale. The benefit isn't just for the people inside the city limits — the airport, hospitals, and labor market serve most of the state.
Illinois has 34 cities in our ranking, covering a real spread of size, density, and cost. People talk about a state like it's monolithic; in practice, the place you actually live varies a lot, and Illinois gives you a real menu to pick from.
Illinois's Great Lakes coastline is a real geographic asset that's easy to forget about until you've lived near it. Summer life in lakeside towns rivals what you'd get on the ocean, the water is fresh (no salt corrosion, no jellyfish), and winter brings lake-effect snow that locals either love or accept as the price of admission.
Reasons reflect aggregated city data for Illinois (Census ACS, BLS, BEA) plus well-known state-level geography. We only list points that are actually supported — different states show different sections.
Across Illinois, Decatur is the most affordable city we track (cost index 80, with median rent around $770/mo), while Glenview sits at the top of the range with an index of 106—roughly 34% pricier than Decatur. Use the table above to compare any Illinois city directly against Decatur.
The other end of the ranking — priciest first.