Skip to content
Cost & Benefits

Cost of living in Galesburg, Illinois

Galesburg, Illinois has about 29,481 people. Typical rent is $801 a month, including utilities, and a typical household earns $48,297 a year. Both figures are Census 2020–2024 medians, not a listing or your pay. This site does not approve or deny benefits. A missing figure stays blank. We do not guess it.

Ranked #155 in Illinois on the 2026 Most Affordable Towns Index.

Simple answer

Typical rent is $801 a month.

Galesburg is a city in Illinois. That rent number includes utilities. A typical household earns $48,297 a year.

People
29,481
Census average, 2020–2024
Typical rent
$801
Median gross rent, includes utilities
Typical pay
$48,297
Median household income, yearly
Typical home
$96,400
Median home value
2-bedroom fair rent
$930
Knox County, IL
Gas
$4.237
Midwest (PADD 2), week of October 12, 2026

Galesburg, Illinois has about 29,481 people. That count is a 2020–2024 Census average, not a headcount from one day.

A typical home is worth about $96,400.

HUD's fair-market rent for a 2-bedroom in Knox County is $930 a month. That is the county number, not an apartment listing in Galesburg. It runs from October 2026 through September 2027.

Illinois's prices sit at 100.0 when the U.S. average is 100. This place is not in a metro area with its own index, so this is the state number from BEA for 2024.

Illinois taxes wages. A typical combined sales tax is 9.0% as of January 1, 2026. That mix is statewide, not Galesburg's exact store tax.

In July 2026, a typical Illinois home paid 19.22¢ per kilowatt-hour. That is a state average from EIA, not Galesburg's bill.

EIA does not publish a Illinois gasoline price. For the week of October 12, 2026, the Midwest (PADD 2) all-grades price was $4.237 a gallon. At 12,000 miles a year and 25 mpg, the index counts that as $2,033.76 a year. Those miles are our standard, not a Census figure, and every town in Illinois shares this price.

Among 648 places we list in Illinois with a rent figure, 514 have higher typical rent than Galesburg.

Nearby places

EBT nearby

USDA has a live map of stores that take SNAP. We did not copy that store list here. The downloadable file is a history file for 2005 through 2025, so the live map is the one to use.

Locator page updated 2026-09-11. Last checked 2026-10-16.

Food stamps (SNAP) tools in Illinois

Bigger places in Illinois

Census 2020-2024. HUD rents for October 2026–September 2027. BEA prices for 2024. Taxes as of January 1, 2026. Checked 2026-10-16. 15,000 places are in this guide.