What is the cost of living in Decatur?

Decatur has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) of 88.4, where 100 represents the national average. Housing costs index at 56.2, which is below the national average. The average 2-bedroom rent is $1,063/month.

What is the median salary in Decatur?

The median salary in Decatur is $65,802 annually (mean: $69,435). Top occupations include Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand, Maintenance and Repair Workers, General, Cashiers.

The violent crime rate in the Decatur area is 277 per 100,000 population (state-level data). Property crime rate is 1665 per 100K.

What are the schools like in Decatur?

The state of IL has 3,845 schools (state-level data, no metro-level federal count exists) with an average student-teacher ratio of 14:1. Charter schools make up 3.5% of all schools.

How much does childcare cost in Decatur?

Infant center-based childcare in the Decatur area averages $12,257 per year. Preschool averages $9,481/year. These are state-level averages.

Is Decatur a good place to relocate?

Decatur has a Life Score of 59.5/100 (C-), based on 7 of 7 available dimensions among cost of living, wages, rent, crime, schools, childcare, and environment (missing dims omitted, weights renormalized). This is an above-average score, Decatur outperforms most scored metros on the combined measure.

Where does Decatur sit among US metros on LiveAbility?

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite, Decatur ranks #27 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). That ordinal matches the /rankings/livability listing. See /methodology#corpus-placement for the exact sort basis.

Relocation profile · Federal data

Decatur, IL

LiveAbility 63.1/100 places Decatur #27 of 387 (top third of scored metros).

Compiled by PlainRelocate · June 15, 2026

88.4
Cost index (US=100): $1,063
2BR rent / mo: $65,802
Median salary: 63.1
LiveAbility Score

The verdict

As of June 2026, Decatur ranks #27 of 387 US metros on the LiveAbility Score (63.1/100), with its strongest marks in housing and cost of living.

#27
of 387 US metros · Excellent: 12,710,158
metro-area population: 277
violent crimes per 100K (state-level): 3,845
schools in the state (NCES)

Weakest dimension: low hazard (27/100). Weigh every dimension against your own priorities, use the City Finder to re-rank by what matters to you.

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite (BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, EPA, NOAA, and FEMA inputs), Decatur ranks #27 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). Cost-of-living index 88.4 (100 = national average), median 2-bedroom rent $1,063/mo, median salary $65,802; LiveAbility Score 63.1/100, strongest in housing and cost of living.

Signature: LiveAbility 63.1/100 places Decatur #27 of 387 (top third of scored metros).

Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP 88.4 lands in the cheaper third of scored metros (cuts at 91.5 / 97.0). Median 2BR rent $1,063/mo.

LiveAbility 63.1/100 puts Decatur in the top third (#27 of 387).

BLS OEWS total employment in the Decatur area is 36,440.

Decatur vs all US metros by LiveAbility Score

Where this metro's LiveAbility Score falls among every scored US metro (composite placement, not a desirability verdict)

63 Top 7% higher than 93% of 387 US metros

Metros banded by LiveAbility Score (0–100)

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source PlainRelocate LiveAbility Score · June 2026

Decatur housing and rent

HUD Fair Market Rents for the Decatur MSA; housing RPP 56.2 (100 = national average); 2BR $1,063/mo.

Studio

$840

/month

1 Bedroom

$845

/month

2 Bedroom

$1,063

/month

3 Bedroom

$1,378

/month

4 Bedroom

$1,706

/month

Decatur wages and employment

Decatur posts 36,440 total employment with median salary $65,802 against a cheaper-than-average RPP.

Median Salary

$65,802

Mean Salary

$69,435

Total Employment

36,440

Top Occupations by Employment

Occupation	Median Salary
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand	$46,010
Maintenance and Repair Workers, General	$61,380
Cashiers	$31,320
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators	$50,040
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers	$59,100

Schools & Education

State-level education data for the Decatur area from NCES.

Schools

3,845

Enrollment

1,844,783

Student:Teacher

14:1

Title I %

Childcare Costs

State-average childcare costs for the Decatur area (DOL data).

Infant (Center)

$12,257

per year

Toddler (Center)

$10,556

per year

Preschool (Center)

$9,481

per year

Life Score Breakdown

Decatur's composite Life Score is 59.5/100 (C-), computed across 7 of 7 dimensions.

Cost

84/100

Elite

Wages

52/100

Average

Rent

87/100

Elite

Crime

64/100

Above average

Schools

38/100

Below average

Childcare

27/100

Weak

Environment

31/100

Weak

LiveAbility Score

View full rankings →

Decatur ranks #27 out of 387 metros with a LiveAbility Score of 63.1/100 - a composite of 8 of 8 quality-of-life dimensions from federal data. Customize the weights to match your priorities →

Strongest dimension: Housing (87/100)

Housing

87
Cost of living

84
Safety

64
Schools

62
Air quality

57
Job market

52
Climate

45
Low hazard

27

What this shows Decatur's strongest dimensions are housing and cost of living; its weakest among scored dims is low hazard at 27/100. Default weights: cost 18%, jobs & housing 15% each, safety & schools 12%, air & hazard 10%, climate 8%.

Compare Decatur to

State College Staunton-Stuarts Draft Stockton-Lodi Sumter Syracuse Tallahassee

Metros near Decatur on cost, LiveAbility, or wages

Nearest out-of-state neighbors to Decatur on BEA RPP, LiveAbility, or BLS median salary, a different lens than the size-ranked list.

Similar cost of living (BEA RPP)

Similar LiveAbility score

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA June 2026

Decatur cost figures follow BEA Regional Price Parities and HUD Fair Market Rents; Decatur wages and LiveAbility inputs follow BLS OEWS plus the federal sources listed in methodology. This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Scores are federal-data percentiles, not a move recommendation. How this data is sourced.

Verify with BEA → · Verify with BLS → · Verify with HUD → · Verify with NOAA → · Verify with FEMA → · Verify with Census →

Thinking about Decatur?

Decatur runs a $65,802 median salary at a 88.4 cost index, ranking #27 of 387 nationally on LiveAbility.

See exactly what Decatur's pay and cost figures mean for your own budget. Salary calculator
Put Decatur head-to-head against another city on the same dimensions. Compare Decatur
Abilene is the closest related metro in this corpus -- see how it stacks up. Abilene profile
A cheaper cost index and a higher LiveAbility score don't always point the same direction -- here's how to weigh the trade-off. Cost vs quality guide

Cost, salary and score figures are federal-data percentiles, not a move recommendation.