Moving to Illinois from Texas
What to Expect
Considering a move from Texas to Illinois? Here's how the two compare on cost, climate, safety, and more.
If you moved from Texas to Illinois, you would find that Illinois is 3.7% more expensive than Texas. A $75,000 salary in Texas would need to be roughly $77,800 in Illinois to maintain the same lifestyle. Expect a noticeable climate shift — Chicago averages 59°F vs 80°F in Houston, making it significantly cooler. Houston and Chicago are about 940 mi apart.
Thinking of moving to Illinois? Get a shortlist of towns in Illinois that match your priorities: size, cost, taxes, safety, disaster risk, hospitals and transport. Find my towns →Is Illinois cheaper than Texas?
How key spending categories compare
Restaurants
pay 4.1% less
Groceries
pay 5.5% more
Transportation
pay 5.1% more
Housing
pay 3.4% more
Childcare
pay 3.4% more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 7.5% 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 → $77,800
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 Texas.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
The numbers behind daily life in Illinois compared to Texas.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Illinois performs significantly 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 significantly 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 significantly 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 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 significantly 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 Illinois vs Texas
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Houston | Chicago |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 67°/48°F (20°/9°C) | 38°/22°F (3°/-6°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 86°/67°F (30°/19°C) | 70°/48°F (21°/9°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 93°/73°F (34°/23°C) | 80°/60°F (27°/16°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 73°/53°F (23°/11°C) | 48°/32°F (9°/0°C) |
View all months
| Month | Houston | Chicago |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 63°/43°F (17.2°/6.2°C) | 31°/17°F (-0.6°/-8.6°C) |
| Feb | 66°/47°F (19.1°/8.1°C) | 35°/20°F (1.8°/-6.6°C) |
| Mar | 73°/53°F (22.8°/11.4°C) | 47°/29°F (8.1°/-1.6°C) |
| Apr | 80°/59°F (26.4°/15.2°C) | 59°/39°F (15.0°/3.8°C) |
| May | 86°/68°F (30.2°/19.8°C) | 70°/48°F (21.1°/9.1°C) |
| Jun | 91°/73°F (33.0°/22.9°C) | 80°/58°F (26.5°/14.5°C) |
| Jul | 94°/75°F (34.3°/23.9°C) | 84°/64°F (28.9°/17.7°C) |
| Aug | 94°/75°F (34.7°/23.8°C) | 82°/63°F (27.7°/17.2°C) |
| Sep | 90°/70°F (32.1°/21.0°C) | 75°/54°F (23.8°/12.4°C) |
| Oct | 82°/61°F (27.8°/16.1°C) | 62°/43°F (16.8°/6.0°C) |
| Nov | 72°/52°F (22.5°/11.2°C) | 48°/32°F (9.0°/0.2°C) |
| Dec | 64°/45°F (17.9°/7.0°C) | 35°/21°F (1.6°/-6.3°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Illinois than Texas?
On average Illinois is around 4% pricier than Texas, with notable variation by city.
How much money do I need to move to Illinois?
Budget about $19,450 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?
Illinois performs significantly better than Texas across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Illinois compared to Texas?
Illinois performs significantly better than Texas across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What's the weather like in Illinois compared to Texas?
The average high temperature in Chicago is 59°F, compared to 80°F in Houston. Chicago receives around 36.9 in of rainfall per year, while Houston gets 49.8 in.
