Moving to Texas from Illinois
What to Expect
Everything you need to know before relocating from Illinois to Texas — costs, safety, healthcare, and practical first steps.
If you moved from Illinois to Texas, you would find that Texas is 3.6% cheaper than Illinois. A $75,000 salary in Illinois would need to be roughly $72,300 in Texas to maintain the same lifestyle. Expect a noticeable climate shift — Houston averages 80°F vs 59°F in Chicago, making it significantly warmer. Chicago and Houston are about 940 mi apart.
Thinking of moving to Texas? Get a shortlist of towns in Texas that match your priorities: size, cost, taxes, safety, disaster risk, hospitals and transport. Find my towns →Is Texas cheaper than Illinois?
Where you'll feel the difference day-to-day
Restaurants
pay 4.2% more
Groceries
pay 5.2% less
Transportation
pay 4.8% less
Housing
pay 3.3% less
Childcare
pay 3.2% less
Entertainment and Sports
pay 7.0% less
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 Texas?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $72,300
To maintain the same standard of living in Texas
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 Texas cost about 2% more than cities in Illinois.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
Key indicators for anyone considering a move from Illinois to Texas.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Illinois performs better than Texas 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 better than Texas 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 Texas across all what about housing? metrics.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Texas 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
Illinois generally does better on employment & economy, though Texas 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 better than Texas 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 Texas vs Illinois
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Chicago | Houston |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 38°/22°F (3°/-6°C) | 67°/48°F (20°/9°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 70°/48°F (21°/9°C) | 86°/67°F (30°/19°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 80°/60°F (27°/16°C) | 93°/73°F (34°/23°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 48°/32°F (9°/0°C) | 73°/53°F (23°/11°C) |
View all months
| Month | Chicago | Houston |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31°/17°F (-0.6°/-8.6°C) | 63°/43°F (17.2°/6.2°C) |
| Feb | 35°/20°F (1.8°/-6.6°C) | 66°/47°F (19.1°/8.1°C) |
| Mar | 47°/29°F (8.1°/-1.6°C) | 73°/53°F (22.8°/11.4°C) |
| Apr | 59°/39°F (15.0°/3.8°C) | 80°/59°F (26.4°/15.2°C) |
| May | 70°/48°F (21.1°/9.1°C) | 86°/68°F (30.2°/19.8°C) |
| Jun | 80°/58°F (26.5°/14.5°C) | 91°/73°F (33.0°/22.9°C) |
| Jul | 84°/64°F (28.9°/17.7°C) | 94°/75°F (34.3°/23.9°C) |
| Aug | 82°/63°F (27.7°/17.2°C) | 94°/75°F (34.7°/23.8°C) |
| Sep | 75°/54°F (23.8°/12.4°C) | 90°/70°F (32.1°/21.0°C) |
| Oct | 62°/43°F (16.8°/6.0°C) | 82°/61°F (27.8°/16.1°C) |
| Nov | 48°/32°F (9.0°/0.2°C) | 72°/52°F (22.5°/11.2°C) |
| Dec | 35°/21°F (1.6°/-6.3°C) | 64°/45°F (17.9°/7.0°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Texas than Illinois?
Yes — Texas is on average about 4% cheaper than Illinois. City-level variation can be significant.
How much money do I need to move to Texas?
Plan for at least 3 months of living expenses — roughly $18,075 in Texas on a $75,000 comparable salary — plus one-off moving costs (movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit).
Is Texas safe?
Illinois performs better than Texas across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Texas compared to Illinois?
Illinois performs better than Texas across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What's the weather like in Texas compared to Illinois?
The average high temperature in Houston is 80°F, compared to 59°F in Chicago. Houston receives around 49.8 in of rainfall per year, while Chicago gets 36.9 in.
