Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue → Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue to Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is strongly favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 111.1 to 103.6 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $720/mo.
- -$15,450
- BLS median salary lower in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
- 329 to 277
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 17.7:1 to 13.4:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $3,730
- DOL infant care lower / yr in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
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
- + 8% lower cost of living
- + $720/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + Better student-teacher ratios
- + More affordable childcare
Cons of Moving
- - $15K lower median salary
Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP falls from 111.1 to 103.6, so each dollar covers more in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin (ratio 0.93). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $720/mo ($8,640/yr) from $2,501 in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue to $1,781 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin.
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin leads on 5 of 7 federal dimensions, a destination-heavy ledger. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin sits #329 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (bottom third of the corpus). Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue is #324/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Strongly Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $15,450 lower ($92,550 → $77,100). Labor-market size: 2,057,860 tracked jobs at origin vs 4,480,500 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors the destination: Illinois scores 58 (D, #31/51) vs Washington at 38 (F, #51/51). 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
- 63
- Property tax
- 63
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 18
- 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 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue to see what you'd need to earn in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin to maintain the same purchasing power.
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin 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