Kankakee → Rockford
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Kankakee to Rockford is strongly favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 96.4 to 92.2 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $151/mo.
- +$3,169
- BLS median salary higher in Rockford
- 277 to 277
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 14:1 to 14:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $0
- DOL infant care higher / yr in Rockford
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
- + $151/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + $3K higher median salary
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 96.4 to 92.2 (ratio 0.96), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $151/mo ($1,812/yr) from $1,326 in Kankakee to $1,175 in Rockford.
The seven-dimension ledger splits (3 destination wins · 0 origin wins); priorities decide this move. Rockford sits #126 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (top third of the corpus). Kankakee is #292/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Strongly Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $3,169 higher ($61,541 → $64,710). Labor-market size: 36,680 tracked jobs at origin vs 131,350 at destination.
Both metros sit in Illinois: state retirement score 58 (D, #31/51) - tax posture does not change with this move. 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
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 Kankakee to see what you'd need to earn in Rockford 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