Charleston-North Charleston → Kankakee
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Charleston-North Charleston to Kankakee is neutral, depends on priorities: BEA regional price parity goes from 101.0 to 96.4 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $461/mo.
- -$6,145
- BLS median salary lower in Kankakee
- 439 to 277
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 14.3:1 to 14:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $4,525
- DOL infant care higher / yr in Kankakee
BEA Regional Price Parity, HUD Fair Market Rent, BLS OEWS, FBI UCR, NCES, and DOL. The table below lets you override the composite with your own priorities.
Pros of Moving
- + 5% lower cost of living
- + $461/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + Lower violent crime rate
Cons of Moving
- - $6K lower median salary
- - More expensive childcare
- - More environmental violations
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 101.0 to 96.4 (ratio 0.95), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $461/mo ($5,532/yr) from $1,787 in Charleston-North Charleston to $1,326 in Kankakee.
The seven-dimension ledger splits (4 destination wins · 3 origin wins); priorities decide this move. Kankakee sits #292 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (bottom third of the corpus). Charleston-North Charleston is #100/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Neutral, depends on priorities. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $6,145 lower ($67,686 → $61,541). Labor-market size: 381,130 tracked jobs at origin vs 36,680 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors staying put: South Carolina scores 80 (A, #3/51) vs Illinois at 58 (D, #31/51). Full state tax and healthcare sub-scores sit in the retirement desk below.
State retirement friendliness
Primary-state scores from PlainRelocate's retirement registry (tax + healthcare + climate composite). Metro pairs use each metro's primary state abbreviation.
- Income tax
- 85
- Property tax
- 87
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 56
- Income tax
- 95
- Property tax
- 46
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 46
Full retirement ranking · Source composite documented on methodology (Tax Foundation + AARP tax guides + federal healthcare/climate inputs).
Salary Adjustment Calculator
Enter your current salary in Charleston-North Charleston to see what you'd need to earn in Kankakee to maintain the same purchasing power.
Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA; retirement desk: Tax Foundation + AARP tax guides June 2026