Moving to Connecticut from Illinois
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Illinois to Connecticut — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Illinois to Connecticut, you would find that Connecticut is 26.5% more expensive than Illinois. A $75,000 salary in Illinois would need to be roughly $94,800 in Connecticut to maintain the same lifestyle. Chicago and Bridgeport are about 750 mi apart.
Thinking of moving to Connecticut? Get a shortlist of towns in Connecticut that match your priorities: size, cost, taxes, safety, disaster risk, hospitals and transport. Find my towns →Is Connecticut cheaper than Illinois?
The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 30.1% more
Groceries
pay 21.1% more
Transportation
pay 3.0% less
Housing
pay 55.6% more
Childcare
pay 41.4% more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 14.8% 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 Connecticut?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $94,800
To maintain the same standard of living in Connecticut
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 Connecticut cost about 19% more than cities in Illinois.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
How Illinois and Connecticut stack up on safety, healthcare, jobs, and infrastructure.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Connecticut performs significantly better than Illinois 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
Connecticut performs significantly better than Illinois across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Illinois performs better than Connecticut across all what about housing? metrics.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Connecticut performs significantly better than Illinois across all infrastructure metrics.
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
Connecticut performs significantly better than Illinois across all employment & economy metrics.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
share of adults with a 4-year college degree
Connecticut performs significantly better than Illinois 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 Connecticut vs Illinois
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Chicago | Bridgeport |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 38°/22°F (3°/-6°C) | 42°/23°F (6°/-5°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 70°/48°F (21°/9°C) | 68°/49°F (20°/10°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 80°/60°F (27°/16°C) | 80°/62°F (26°/16°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 48°/32°F (9°/0°C) | 53°/34°F (12°/1°C) |
View all months
| Month | Chicago | Bridgeport |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31°/17°F (-0.6°/-8.6°C) | 38°/20°F (3.1°/-6.9°C) |
| Feb | 35°/20°F (1.8°/-6.6°C) | 41°/21°F (4.9°/-6.0°C) |
| Mar | 47°/29°F (8.1°/-1.6°C) | 47°/29°F (8.6°/-1.7°C) |
| Apr | 59°/39°F (15.0°/3.8°C) | 59°/40°F (15.1°/4.2°C) |
| May | 70°/48°F (21.1°/9.1°C) | 68°/49°F (20.2°/9.6°C) |
| Jun | 80°/58°F (26.5°/14.5°C) | 78°/59°F (25.7°/15.1°C) |
| Jul | 84°/64°F (28.9°/17.7°C) | 83°/65°F (28.1°/18.3°C) |
| Aug | 82°/63°F (27.7°/17.2°C) | 82°/64°F (27.6°/17.7°C) |
| Sep | 75°/54°F (23.8°/12.4°C) | 75°/56°F (23.7°/13.1°C) |
| Oct | 62°/43°F (16.8°/6.0°C) | 63°/44°F (17.4°/6.5°C) |
| Nov | 48°/32°F (9.0°/0.2°C) | 54°/34°F (12.1°/1.3°C) |
| Dec | 35°/21°F (1.6°/-6.3°C) | 43°/24°F (6.1°/-4.2°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Connecticut than Illinois?
Day-to-day costs in Connecticut run about 26% higher than Illinois on average; specific cities can swing further.
How much money do I need to move to Connecticut?
A safe rule of thumb is 3 months of local expenses plus relocation costs. On a $75,000 comparable salary, that's around $23,700 in Connecticut for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Connecticut safe?
Connecticut performs significantly better than Illinois across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Connecticut compared to Illinois?
Connecticut performs significantly better than Illinois across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What's the weather like in Connecticut compared to Illinois?
The average high temperature in Bridgeport is 61°F, compared to 59°F in Chicago. Bridgeport receives around 47.7 in of rainfall per year, while Chicago gets 36.9 in.
