Moving to Illinois from Michigan
What to Expect
Considering a move from Michigan to Illinois? Here's how the two compare on cost, climate, safety, and more.
If you moved from Michigan to Illinois, you would find that Illinois is 5.5% more expensive than Michigan. A $75,000 salary in Michigan would need to be roughly $79,100 in Illinois to maintain the same lifestyle. Detroit and Chicago are about 240 mi apart.
Is Illinois cheaper than Michigan?
How key spending categories compare
Restaurants
pay 3.7% less
Groceries
pay 2.4% less
Transportation
pay 5.4% more
Housing
pay 10.6% more
Childcare
pay 8.1% more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 11.2% 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 → $79,100
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 2% less than cities in Michigan.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
The numbers behind daily life in Illinois compared to Michigan.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Michigan generally does better on safety, though Illinois leads in violent crime rate.
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
Michigan generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Illinois leads in adult obesity rate.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Michigan performs better than Illinois across all what about housing? metrics.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Michigan 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 Michigan 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 Michigan 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 Michigan
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Detroit | Chicago |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 36°/24°F (3°/-5°C) | 38°/22°F (3°/-6°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 68°/50°F (20°/10°C) | 70°/48°F (21°/9°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 79°/62°F (26°/17°C) | 80°/60°F (27°/16°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 48°/35°F (9°/2°C) | 48°/32°F (9°/0°C) |
View all months
| Month | Detroit | Chicago |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31°/20°F (-0.3°/-6.5°C) | 31°/17°F (-0.6°/-8.6°C) |
| Feb | 34°/22°F (1.3°/-5.5°C) | 35°/20°F (1.8°/-6.6°C) |
| Mar | 44°/29°F (6.8°/-1.7°C) | 47°/29°F (8.1°/-1.6°C) |
| Apr | 57°/40°F (14.1°/4.2°C) | 59°/39°F (15.0°/3.8°C) |
| May | 69°/50°F (20.4°/10.1°C) | 70°/48°F (21.1°/9.1°C) |
| Jun | 78°/60°F (25.7°/15.7°C) | 80°/58°F (26.5°/14.5°C) |
| Jul | 83°/65°F (28.1°/18.4°C) | 84°/64°F (28.9°/17.7°C) |
| Aug | 80°/64°F (26.9°/17.8°C) | 82°/63°F (27.7°/17.2°C) |
| Sep | 73°/56°F (22.8°/13.4°C) | 75°/54°F (23.8°/12.4°C) |
| Oct | 60°/45°F (15.7°/7.1°C) | 62°/43°F (16.8°/6.0°C) |
| Nov | 48°/35°F (8.7°/1.9°C) | 48°/32°F (9.0°/0.2°C) |
| Dec | 35°/25°F (1.9°/-3.8°C) | 35°/21°F (1.6°/-6.3°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Illinois than Michigan?
On average Illinois is around 6% pricier than Michigan, with notable variation by city.
How much money do I need to move to Illinois?
Budget about $19,775 for 3 months in Illinois (based on a $75,000 comparable annual salary), then add the one-off costs: movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Illinois safe?
Michigan generally does better on safety, though Illinois leads in violent crime rate.
How is healthcare in Illinois compared to Michigan?
Michigan generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Illinois leads in adult obesity rate.
What's the weather like in Illinois compared to Michigan?
The average high temperature in Chicago is 59°F, compared to 58°F in Detroit. Chicago receives around 36.9 in of rainfall per year, while Detroit gets 31.3 in.
