Chicago-Naperville-Elgin → Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Chicago-Naperville-Elgin to Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell is favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 103.6 to 100.1 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent rises by $39/mo.
- -$4,993
- BLS median salary lower in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell
- 277 to 300
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 13.4:1 to 13.8:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $5,666
- DOL infant care lower / yr in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell
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
- + 4% lower cost of living
- + More affordable childcare
Cons of Moving
- - $5K lower median salary
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 103.6 to 100.1 (ratio 0.97), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent barely moves ($1,781 → $1,820); the housing line is not the swing factor on this corridor.
The seven-dimension ledger splits (3 destination wins · 4 origin wins); priorities decide this move. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell sits #277 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (bottom third of the corpus). Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is #329/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $4,993 lower ($77,100 → $72,107). Labor-market size: 4,480,500 tracked jobs at origin vs 2,837,930 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors the destination: Georgia scores 68 (C, #10/51) 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
- 95
- Property tax
- 46
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 46
- Income tax
- 88
- Property tax
- 74
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 48
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 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin to see what you'd need to earn in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell to maintain the same purchasing power.
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell metro profile · Livability rankings · Methodology
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