Roanoke → Kankakee
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Roanoke to Kankakee is unfavorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 93.6 to 96.4 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent rises by $72/mo.
- -$3,433
- BLS median salary lower in Kankakee
- 223 to 277
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 13.9:1 to 14:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $1,850
- 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.
Cons of Moving
- - $72/mo more expensive rent (2BR)
- - $3K lower median salary
- - Higher violent crime rate
- - More expensive childcare
- - More environmental violations
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 93.6 to 96.4 (ratio 1.03), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent rises $72/mo ($864/yr) from $1,254 in Roanoke to $1,326 in Kankakee.
Roanoke still leads on 7 of 7 federal dimensions, the origin keeps the edge. Kankakee sits #292 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (bottom third of the corpus). Roanoke is #104/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Unfavorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $3,433 lower ($64,974 → $61,541). Labor-market size: 144,240 tracked jobs at origin vs 36,680 at destination.
State retirement friendliness is near-even: Virginia 64 (C, #20/51) vs Illinois 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
- 78
- Property tax
- 71
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 62
- 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 Roanoke 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