Moving from Illinois to New Mexico
Illinois to New Mexico is a move of about 1,257 miles. Median rent is $1,067 a month in New Mexico and $1,274 in Illinois, and the median home is $248,100 against $263,300. State income tax is up to 5.90% in New Mexico and a flat 4.95% in Illinois. Property tax runs 0.70% of home value in New Mexico and 2.01% in Illinois.
Moving to New Mexico costs about
$500/mo
less than Illinois each month, renting on a $80,000 household income
Not your income? Run it on your own numbers
Worth knowing
The move pays for itself in about 7 months
Moving costs somewhere around $3,044, and New Mexico runs about $500 a month cheaper. After roughly 7 months you are ahead.
Illinois vs New Mexico at a glance
| Illinois | New Mexico | |
|---|---|---|
| Median home value | $263,300 | $248,100 |
| Median rent | $1,274/mo | $1,067/mo |
| State income tax | Flat 4.95% | Up to 5.90% |
| Property tax rate | 2.01% | 0.70% |
| Groceries, gas & goods | 104 | 96 |
| Utilities | 85 | 78 |
Price levels are indexes where 100 is the national average. They cover everyday spending only; housing is the two rows above.
Monthly cost of living: Illinois vs New Mexico
| Monthly | IL | NM | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | |||
| Housing (median rent)Biggest factor | $1,274 | $1,067 | -$207 |
| Taxes | |||
| State income tax | $318 | $216 | -$102 |
| Sales tax (on everyday spending) | $95 | $71 | -$24 |
| Everyday costs | |||
| Groceries, gas & goods | $1,904 | $1,763 | -$141 |
| Utilities | $347 | $318 | -$29 |
| Total | -$503 | ||
Cost to move from Illinois to New Mexico
$2,500 to $5,600
From a container you load yourself up to full-service movers.
Shipping one car adds about $750 to $1,050, against roughly $400 in fuel and lodging to drive it the 3-day trip yourself.
These are statewide figures. Chicago is not Illinois-average and Albuquerque is not New Mexico-average, so a specific city can look nothing like its state. Compare metro areas instead to narrow it to 387 real places, including which side of a state line you would live on.
Run this with your own numbers
What jobs pay in New Mexico, after the cost of living
Estimates only, not advice. Housing and income figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (2024); price levels from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024); tax rates are for the 2026 tax year, compiled from state revenue departments and the Tax Foundation. Moving costs are modelled from published ranges rather than quoted. Every figure is a statewide median or average and will not match any particular household.