Illinois vs Tennessee: Cost of Living, Taxes, Rent and Safety Compared
Weighing a move between Illinois and Tennessee? 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 Illinois to Tennessee changes a typical two-bedroom rent by −$343 a month (−$4,116 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, Illinois leads on healthcare, schools, infrastructure and transport, walkability and airport access. Which of those matters depends entirely on you.
Where people look in each state
Illinois
Chicago
$2,011/mo two-bedroom
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.
Nashville is a booming Southern city with a music industry, a huge healthcare sector and a tourism district that locals mostly avoid. Growth has been explosive, housing costs have followed, and the traffic infrastructure has not kept up.
Memphis
$1,301/mo two-bedroom
Memphis is a Mississippi River city with extraordinary musical heritage, world-class barbecue and the FedEx hub. Genuinely cheap housing, a serious violent-crime problem in parts of the city, and a grittier, less polished feel than Nashville.
Knoxville
$1,475/mo two-bedroom
Knoxville is an affordable university city at the doorstep of the Great Smoky Mountains, with a walkable downtown square and a strong outdoor scene. Quieter than Nashville, cheaper than Asheville, and increasingly popular with remote workers.
On rent, Tennessee is cheaper: a typical two-bedroom is $1,381 a month against $1,724 (HUD FY2027). Everyday costs, housing excluded, index at 101.5 in Illinois and 95.6 in Tennessee (U.S. = 100). Whether you come out ahead also depends on your pay and taxes in each state.
Which has lower taxes, Illinois or Tennessee?
Tennessee. A married couple on the U.S. median household income would pay about 3.8% of it in state and local taxes, against 12.7% in Illinois (Locustep estimate). Tennessee has no tax on wages; Illinois’s top rate is 4.95%.
Is Illinois safer than Tennessee?
By violent crime, Illinois is lower: 289.2 per 100,000 residents against 592.3 (FBI, 2024). On natural hazards, FEMA puts Illinois at the 30th percentile and Tennessee at the 38th (lower is safer).
Which has better weather, Illinois or Tennessee?
It depends what you want. Winter afternoons average 35°F in Chicago and 52°F in Nashville; summer afternoons 82°F and 90°F (NOAA 1991–2020). Illinois: four distinct seasons. Tennessee: hot & humid, subtropical.