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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
If you remember nothing else from this page, remember this: Joliet: high income, low cost — a rare combo. Joliet earns above the national median ($88,026 vs $80,367) while keeping costs below average (index 97 vs 112). That combination is exceptionally rare — only 36 of 288 cities share it. This sta…
#1 Ranked: Joliet — cost index 97, rent $1,559/mo, income $88,026
Joliet: high income, low cost — a rare combo
Remote-worker scoring: cost index 97, utilities index 89, income $88,026 — maximizing geographic arbitrage
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
If you remember nothing else from this page, remember this: Joliet: high income, low cost — a rare combo. Joliet earns above the national median ($88,026 vs $80,367) while keeping costs below average (index 97 vs 112). That combination is exceptionally rare — only 36 of 288 cities share it. This stands out as genuinely impressive.
The remote work era changed the math: earn a tech salary, live in an affordable market. We analyzed 5 cities across Illinois for that equation. Joliet — cost index 97, utilities 89, rent $1,559/mo — leads.
At $1,559/month for rent and a cost index of 97, Joliet is pretty much what you'd expect from a mid-size city in this part of the country. Income is $88,026. That alone makes it worth considering. Not even close to the national average.
(Tangentially — this is the kind of city where you can actually build equity on a median salary, which is increasingly rare.)
Still, the overall picture holds: The 5 cities we track in Illinois paint a clearly affordable picture. Average cost index: 104. Median rent: $1,779/month. Household income: $91,148. Illinois is known for Chicago's premium versus downstate bargains — and the data backs that reputation convincingly. The math checks out.
If you're ready to act on this, three things to do next: 1) Click into the city pages for the top 3 and check rent trends — direction matters more than the snapshot. 2) Run your income through the salary calculator for a personalized cost comparison. 3) Compare your top two picks head-to-head on our comparison page. The data is here; the decision is yours. An outlier in the best sense.
Joliet earns above the national median ($88,026 vs $80,367) while keeping costs below average (index 97 vs 112). That combination is exceptionally rare — only 36 of 288 cities share it.
Rent in #1-ranked Joliet has increased from $1,496 to $1,559/mo over the past 12 months — a 4% increase. Rising costs may erode its top ranking over time.
150,489 residents · Illinois
A closer look at Joliet: the cost index of 97 breaks down to a Utilities index of 89 (strongest category) and a Healthcare index of 100 (weakest). Median rent is $1,559/month — 18% below the national median — while household income sits at $88,026, meaning locals spend about 21% of income on rent. That's a healthy margin by any standard.
146,120 residents · Illinois
The #2 spot goes to Rockford, and the breakdown explains why. Renters here pay $1,151/month — saving renters $8,928 per year compared to the national average. Meanwhile, Housing is the standout at index 66, making it one of the cheapest in the country for that category. The weak spot? Healthcare at 89. A 26% rent-to-income ratio keeps most households inside the safe zone.
2,664,452 residents · Illinois
Chicago comes in at #3. Rent is $2,292 — we had to double-check this one — a month. Household income is $75,134. The cost of living index is 111. That tracks.
113,310 residents · Illinois
What does daily life actually cost in Elgin? Start with the 24% rent-to-income ratio — that's the kind of margin that lets people build savings. On the category level, Utilities (index 94) is where the real savings show up, while Healthcare (index 106) is the line item most likely to surprise newcomers. Income at $88,316 and homes at $323,259 round out a profile that ranks #4 for clear reasons. Solidly above average.
150,245 residents · Illinois
The #5 spot goes to Naperville, and the breakdown explains why. Renters here pay $2,157/month — costing renters $3,144 more per year compared to the national average. Meanwhile, Utilities is the standout at index 112, keeping costs manageable. The weak spot? Housing at 154. At a 17% rent-to-income ratio, there's genuine breathing room in the average household budget.
Our persona scoring model weights cost of living, income, rent, healthcare costs, tax burden, and population size differently based on what matters most to remote workers. Each factor contributes 10-25 points to a 0-100 composite score. Cities with the highest composite rank first. All data is sourced from federal agencies and verified research institutions. Cost of living indices are normalized to 100 (national median) using Zillow rent as the primary signal, with sub-category adjustments derived from regional BLS price data. Rankings are updated monthly as new data is released.
Joliet ranks #1 in Illinois for this analysis with a cost index of 97 and median income of $88,026.
Joliet scores highest for remote workers due to its below-average cost of living, median rent of $1,559/mo, and above-average median income of $88,026.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
Joliet (ranked #1) has a cost index of 97 and rent of $1,559/mo, while Naperville (ranked #5) has a cost index of 122 and rent of $2,157/mo — a 25-point difference in cost of living.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Joliet is $1,559/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $336 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Joliet is $255,981, which is 2.9× the local median income. That's within the standard 3.5× affordability rule for most local earners. The national median home price is $467,370.
Illinois has a 4.95% state income tax rate. Combined state and local sales tax averages 8.83%, and the effective property tax rate is 1.73%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.