Moving from New Jersey to Illinois
New Jersey to Illinois is a move of about 957 miles. Median rent is $1,274 a month in Illinois and $1,720 in New Jersey, and the median home is $263,300 against $454,400. State income tax is a flat 4.95% in Illinois and up to 10.75% in New Jersey. Property tax runs 2.01% of home value in Illinois and 2.11% in New Jersey.
Moving to Illinois costs about
$560/mo
less than New Jersey 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 5 months
Moving costs somewhere around $2,618, and Illinois runs about $560 a month cheaper. After roughly 5 months you are ahead.
New Jersey vs Illinois at a glance
| New Jersey | Illinois | |
|---|---|---|
| Median home value | $454,400 | $263,300 |
| Median rent | $1,720/mo | $1,274/mo |
| State income tax | Up to 10.75% | Flat 4.95% |
| Property tax rate | 2.11% | 2.01% |
| Groceries, gas & goods | 107 | 104 |
| Utilities | 114 | 85 |
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: New Jersey vs Illinois
| Monthly | NJ | IL | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | |||
| Housing (median rent)Biggest factor | $1,720 | $1,274 | -$446 |
| Taxes | |||
| State income tax | $242 | $318 | +$76 |
| Sales tax (on everyday spending) | $106 | $95 | -$11 |
| Everyday costs | |||
| Groceries, gas & goods | $1,963 | $1,904 | -$59 |
| Utilities | $466 | $347 | -$119 |
| Total | -$559 | ||
Cost to move from New Jersey to Illinois
$2,200 to $5,000
From a container you load yourself up to full-service movers.
Shipping one car adds about $650 to $1,000, against roughly $250 in fuel and lodging to drive it the 2-day trip yourself.
These are statewide figures. Trenton is not New Jersey-average and Chicago is not Illinois-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 Illinois, 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.