Cost of Living Calculator: Illinois
What does it cost to live in Illinois? A single adult spends about $3,654 a month — roughly $43,848 a year — on housing, food, transportation, healthcare, and everyday essentials, with housing alone making up about 38.6% of that. Enter your take-home pay and household below to see whether your budget balances in Illinois and where your money goes.
Cost-of-living index: 100.0 (US = 100) — Illinois is right at the national average. BEA Regional Price Parities (US = 100), 2024.
Monthly balance in Illinois
+$1,961
left over each month · 34.9% savings rate
| Category | Per month | % of income |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | $1,409 | 25.1% |
| Food | $478 | 8.5% |
| Transportation | $675 | 12.0% |
| Healthcare | $401 | 7.1% |
| Other | $691 | 12.3% |
| Total expenses | $3,654 | 65.1% |
Prefills are Illinois typical costs for your household; adjust to your real spending. An estimate, not financial advice.
Source: BEA Regional Price Parities by category (goods / rents / other services); BLS CEX baseline (rents 93.944, goods 103.832, other services 100.156; US=100) · as of 2024 · methodology
How the Illinois budget works
We prefill each spending category with what's typical for a household your size in Illinois, based on the state's regional price level. You can override any number to match how you actually spend.
The tool compares your total monthly expenses against your take-home income, then shows your surplus or shortfall and your savings rate — the share of income you keep after covering costs.
A common benchmark is to keep housing near or below 30% of income and to save at least 20%. The category percentages here let you see, at a glance, where Illinois costs push your budget away from those targets.
Housing is the biggest line by far: about $1,409 of the $3,654 monthly total for a single adult in Illinois. That's why two people on the same salary can end up with very different budgets — whoever pays more for housing has less left for food, transport, and savings. It's also the first place to look if your Illinois budget doesn't balance.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does it cost to live in Illinois per month?
- About $3,654 a month for a single adult covering housing, food, transportation, healthcare, and other essentials. Larger households cost more but benefit from shared housing — set yours above to see the figure. The typical Illinois household earns $83,211 a year before tax, which is what most local budgets are built around.
- Is Illinois affordable?
- That depends on your income. This tool balances Illinois's typical costs against your take-home pay so you can see your monthly surplus or shortfall directly, rather than relying on a one-size index.
- Where do these Illinois cost figures come from?
- They scale a national household budget (US Bureau of Labor Statistics) by Illinois's regional price parity (US Bureau of Economic Analysis), and are shown with their date. See our methodology page for the full approach.