Illinois vs Florida: which really costs more?
A well-documented outbound migration route from the Midwest to a no-income-tax state.
Income tax shown is the effective state rate on a $75,000 salary for a single filer; sales tax is the combined state and local rate in each state's representative county. Both figures come from the same verified datasets the calculator uses.
What things actually cost in each
Gross income required at a $75,000 salary, using each category's default assumptions — sorted by the biggest difference between the two states.
| Category | Illinois | Florida | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home purchase | $1,225,902 | $1,130,208 | $95,694 cheaper in Florida |
| Car purchase | $142,341 | $132,259 | $10,082 cheaper in Florida |
| Wedding | $50,091 | $45,620 | $4,471 cheaper in Florida |
| Coffee habit | $27,403 | $25,008 | $2,396 cheaper in Florida |
| Car payment or lease | $17,780 | $16,529 | $1,251 cheaper in Florida |
| Funeral | $12,232 | $11,372 | $861 cheaper in Florida |
| Phone plan | $10,536 | $9,794 | $741 cheaper in Florida |
| Pet annual cost | $2,580 | $2,354 | $226 cheaper in Florida |
| Rent | $2,752 | $2,559 | $194 cheaper in Florida |
| Laptop or phone purchase | $2,000 | $1,825 | $175 cheaper in Florida |
| Childcare | $1,682 | $1,564 | $118 cheaper in Florida |
| Hotel stay | $1,070 | $994 | $75 cheaper in Florida |
| Health insurance premium | $688 | $640 | $48 cheaper in Florida |
| Student loan payment | $612 | $569 | $43 cheaper in Florida |
| Domestic flight | $501 | $466 | $35 cheaper in Florida |
| Utilities | $321 | $299 | $23 cheaper in Florida |
| Concert ticket | $227 | $208 | $19 cheaper in Florida |
| Weekly groceries | $268 | $249 | $19 cheaper in Florida |
| Car insurance | $252 | $235 | $18 cheaper in Florida |
| Restaurant dinner | $160 | $146 | $14 cheaper in Florida |
| Cannabis (legal states) | $108 | $101 | $8 cheaper in Florida |
| Internet service | $107 | $100 | $8 cheaper in Florida |
| Gym membership | $75 | $68 | $7 cheaper in Florida |
| Streaming bundle | $75 | $68 | $7 cheaper in Florida |
| Pizza delivery | $62 | $57 | $5 cheaper in Florida |
| Gas fill-up | $69 | $64 | $5 cheaper in Florida |
| Food delivery | $59 | $54 | $5 cheaper in Florida |
| Haircut | $64 | $60 | $5 cheaper in Florida |
| Soft drinks | $40 | $37 | $4 cheaper in Florida |
| Rideshare trip | $34 | $31 | $2 cheaper in Florida |
| Fast food meal | $20 | $18 | $2 cheaper in Florida |
| Bar drink | $18 | $16 | $2 cheaper in Florida |
| Cigarettes or vape | $15 | $14 | $1 cheaper in Florida |
Across the 33 categories we can compute for both states, Florida comes out cheaper more often. That is not the whole picture — housing costs, wages, and property tax vary far more than sales tax does, and none of those are modeled here. See limitations.