Arizona vs Illinois: Cost of Living, Taxes, Rent and Safety Compared
Weighing a move between Arizona and Illinois? Here’s how they compare on the numbers that decide most moves, from the same public data Locustep uses to rank all 50 states.
Shaded cells are the lower-cost, higher-income or lower-risk figure. Indexes: U.S. average = 100.
What it means for your budget
Rent alone: moving from Arizona to Illinois changes a typical two-bedroom rent by +$108 a month (+$1,296 a year); the move the other way flips the sign. Taxes, pay, insurance and the move itself shift too, and how much depends on your income, your household and the city you pick.
That’s exactly what Locustep’s Net-Impact Report works out: your take-home pay after state and local taxes in both places, rent or buy for your budget, insurance and moving costs, and the month the move pays for itself.
Which state fits you better?
On Locustep’s directional scores, Arizona leads on outdoor access; Illinois leads on healthcare, walkability and airport access. Which of those matters depends entirely on you.
Where people look in each state
Arizona
Phoenix
$1,734/mo two-bedroom
Phoenix is a vast, flat, sun-baked grid of suburbs with genuinely dangerous summer heat and a cheap, endlessly expanding housing supply. Growth is rapid, water is the long-term question, and winters are close to perfect.
Tucson
$1,405/mo two-bedroom
Tucson is smaller, funkier and cooler than Phoenix, at higher elevation in the Sonoran Desert, built around the University of Arizona. Strong Mexican food and desert-hiking culture, lower wages, and a more bohemian, less corporate feel.
Scottsdale
$1,734/mo two-bedroom
Scottsdale is affluent Phoenix — golf, spas, glossy dining and a busy nightlife district, with newer housing and higher prices than the rest of the valley. Same extreme summer heat, more manicured surroundings.
Chicago is a genuinely great American city — world-class architecture, museums, food and transit, with lakefront summers that make the brutal winters worth it. Housing is cheap for its size, though property taxes and neighbourhood-level violence vary sharply.
Naperville
$2,011/mo two-bedroom
Naperville is an affluent western suburb of Chicago with top-rated schools, a riverwalk and a commuter train downtown. Safe, family-focused, expensive by Illinois standards, and thoroughly suburban.
Springfield
$1,237/mo two-bedroom
Springfield is Illinois's state capital and Lincoln's town — government employment, a low cost of living and a quiet central-Illinois pace. Flat, affordable, and short on big-city amenities.
On rent, Arizona is cheaper: a typical two-bedroom is $1,616 a month against $1,724 (HUD FY2027). Everyday costs, housing excluded, index at 99.9 in Arizona and 101.5 in Illinois (U.S. = 100). Whether you come out ahead also depends on your pay and taxes in each state.
Which has lower taxes, Arizona or Illinois?
Arizona. A married couple on the U.S. median household income would pay about 5.1% of it in state and local taxes, against 12.7% in Illinois (Locustep estimate). Top income-tax rates are 2.5% in Arizona and 4.95% in Illinois.
Is Arizona safer than Illinois?
By violent crime, Illinois is lower: 289.2 per 100,000 residents against 421.9 (FBI, 2024). On natural hazards, FEMA puts Arizona at the 53rd percentile and Illinois at the 30th (lower is safer).
Which has better weather, Arizona or Illinois?
It depends what you want. Winter afternoons average 68°F in Phoenix and 35°F in Chicago; summer afternoons 105°F and 82°F (NOAA 1991–2020). Arizona: hot & dry, desert. Illinois: four distinct seasons.