Rochester → Kankakee
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Rochester to Kankakee is favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 97.0 to 96.4 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $247/mo.
- -$11,244
- BLS median salary lower in Kankakee
- 380 to 277
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 11.8:1 to 14:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $1,612
- DOL infant care lower / 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
- + $247/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + Lower violent crime rate
- + Fewer environmental violations
Cons of Moving
- - $11K lower median salary
- - Higher student-teacher ratios
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 97.0 to 96.4 (ratio 0.99), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $247/mo ($2,964/yr) from $1,573 in Rochester to $1,326 in Kankakee.
Kankakee leads on 5 of 7 federal dimensions, a destination-heavy ledger. Kankakee sits #292 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (bottom third of the corpus). Rochester is #223/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $11,244 lower ($72,785 → $61,541). Labor-market size: 478,930 tracked jobs at origin vs 36,680 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors the destination: Illinois scores 58 (D, #31/51) vs New York at 46 (F, #46/51). 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
- 80
- Property tax
- 48
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 96
- 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 Rochester 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