Moving to Illinois from Arkansas
What to Expect
Everything you need to know before relocating from Arkansas to Illinois — costs, safety, healthcare, and practical first steps.
If you moved from Arkansas to Illinois, you would find that Illinois is 15.4% more expensive than Arkansas. A $75,000 salary in Arkansas would need to be roughly $86,500 in Illinois to maintain the same lifestyle. Expect a noticeable climate shift — Chicago averages 59°F vs 72°F in Little Rock, making it significantly cooler. Little Rock and Chicago are about 550 mi apart.
Is Illinois cheaper than Arkansas?
Where you'll feel the difference day-to-day
Restaurants
pay 6.0% less
Groceries
pay 15.1% more
Transportation
pay 33.1% more
Housing
pay 14.7% more
Childcare
pay 33.7% more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 14.2% more
Data: MyLifeElsewhere's crowdsourced cost of living database, with prices submitted and updated by users worldwide. Exchange rates are refreshed regularly from public sources.
What salary do you need in Illinois?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $86,500
To maintain the same standard of living in Illinois
Calculate with your salary →Cost of living by city
Cost of living varies a lot by city. Each figure is a city's overall cost of living as a percentage of New York City (the priciest, = 100%).
On average, cities in Illinois cost about 7% more than cities in Arkansas.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
Key indicators for anyone considering a move from Arkansas to Illinois.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Illinois performs significantly better than Arkansas across all safety metrics.
How's the healthcare?
share of people without health insurance
share of adults with obesity
share of adults with diabetes
share of adults who smoke
Illinois performs significantly better than Arkansas across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Arkansas generally does better on what about housing?, though Illinois leads in homeownership rate.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Arkansas generally does better on infrastructure, though Illinois leads in internet access.
What are the job prospects?
percentage of the labour force without work
a broad measure of economic output per person
typical annual income of a household
share of people below the poverty line
Illinois generally does better on employment & economy, though Arkansas leads in unemployment rate.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
share of adults with a 4-year college degree
Illinois performs significantly better than Arkansas across all family life metrics.
Sources: US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) (2023), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PLACES) (2022), FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (2023), Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025), Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024), OECD Regional Demography (2020). How we calculate this
Weather in Illinois vs Arkansas
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Little Rock | Chicago |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 56°/38°F (13°/3°C) | 38°/22°F (3°/-6°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 80°/61°F (27°/16°C) | 70°/48°F (21°/9°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 89°/70°F (32°/21°C) | 80°/60°F (27°/16°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 62°/44°F (17°/7°C) | 48°/32°F (9°/0°C) |
View all months
| Month | Little Rock | Chicago |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 49°/33°F (9.7°/0.4°C) | 31°/17°F (-0.6°/-8.6°C) |
| Feb | 54°/36°F (12.4°/2.4°C) | 35°/20°F (1.8°/-6.6°C) |
| Mar | 64°/44°F (17.6°/6.8°C) | 47°/29°F (8.1°/-1.6°C) |
| Apr | 73°/53°F (22.7°/11.6°C) | 59°/39°F (15.0°/3.8°C) |
| May | 80°/62°F (26.8°/16.4°C) | 70°/48°F (21.1°/9.1°C) |
| Jun | 88°/69°F (31.2°/20.7°C) | 80°/58°F (26.5°/14.5°C) |
| Jul | 92°/73°F (33.4°/22.7°C) | 84°/64°F (28.9°/17.7°C) |
| Aug | 92°/72°F (33.3°/22.2°C) | 82°/63°F (27.7°/17.2°C) |
| Sep | 84°/65°F (29.1°/18.1°C) | 75°/54°F (23.8°/12.4°C) |
| Oct | 73°/54°F (23.0°/12.3°C) | 62°/43°F (16.8°/6.0°C) |
| Nov | 62°/44°F (16.5°/6.6°C) | 48°/32°F (9.0°/0.2°C) |
| Dec | 51°/35°F (10.7°/1.7°C) | 35°/21°F (1.6°/-6.3°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Illinois than Arkansas?
No — Illinois is on average about 15% more expensive than Arkansas. City-level variation matters.
How much money do I need to move to Illinois?
Plan for at least 3 months of living expenses — roughly $21,625 in Illinois on a $75,000 comparable salary — plus one-off moving costs (movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit).
Is Illinois safe?
Illinois performs significantly better than Arkansas across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Illinois compared to Arkansas?
Illinois performs significantly better than Arkansas across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What's the weather like in Illinois compared to Arkansas?
The average high temperature in Chicago is 59°F, compared to 72°F in Little Rock. Chicago receives around 36.9 in of rainfall per year, while Little Rock gets 50.0 in.
