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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Chicago to Philadelphia

Chicago, IL vs Philadelphia, PA

Simple answer

You'd likely save $151 a month in Philadelphia.

This is the HUD 2-bedroom fair-market rent for October 2026 through September 2027. It is not your lease.

The largest cost gap in this pair is goods prices. BEA goods prices, the groceries and goods comparison, are 10.4 index points lower in Philadelphia (96.8 versus 107.3).

Illinois taxes wages at a flat 4.95%. Pennsylvania taxes wages at a flat 3.07%. Combined sales tax differs by 2.6 percentage points, higher in Illinois. The effective property tax gap is 0.77 percentage points, higher in Illinois.

After a move from Illinois to Pennsylvania, those two example households keep the same benefit status labels. A different income can still split Medicaid and marketplace credits.

A $75,000 salary in Chicago lines up with about $74,246 in Philadelphia on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Chicago

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$2,011
HUD area
Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,469
All-items price parity
103.6
Goods price parity
107.3
Utilities price parity
83.6
Mean commute
30.9 min
Median household income
$90,770

Philadelphia

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,860
HUD area
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD MSA
Census median gross rent
$1,567
All-items price parity
102.6
Goods price parity
96.8
Utilities price parity
114.4
Mean commute
29.7 min
Median household income
$90,850

Equivalent salary

The first number keeps the same place in the national price level. The second also runs 2026 federal income tax, employee Social Security and Medicare, and a simplified state income tax. Groceries use the BEA goods price parity, not a grocery receipt.

Same buying power

$74,246

Salary in Philadelphia that matches the 2024 all-items regional price parity.

After state and federal tax

$73,332

Gross salary in Philadelphia whose after-tax pay buys the same basket, using price parities.

Rent only

$69,368

Scales the salary by the ratio of HUD 2-bedroom Fair Market Rents. Rent is not the whole budget.

Taxes on the two sides of the move

TaxIllinoisPennsylvania
State income tax on wages4.95% flat3.07% flat
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20269.0%6.3%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median1.92%1.16%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $7,694 a year in Illinois and $4,631 in Pennsylvania. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Pennsylvania

Same household, $40,000 a year, scored once in Illinois and once in Pennsylvania. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    ChicagoLikely eligible

    PhiladelphiaLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    ChicagoLikely eligible

    PhiladelphiaLikely eligible

  • WIC

    ChicagoLikely eligible

    PhiladelphiaLikely eligible

  • School meals

    ChicagoLikely eligible

    PhiladelphiaLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    ChicagoMaybe

    PhiladelphiaMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    ChicagoLikely eligible

    PhiladelphiaLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    ChicagoLikely eligible

    PhiladelphiaLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    ChicagoUnlikely

    PhiladelphiaUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    ChicagoLikely eligible

    PhiladelphiaLikely eligible

  • SSI

    ChicagoUnlikely

    PhiladelphiaUnlikely

At $40,000 the status labels match. A single adult around $18,000 is where Medicaid expansion and the marketplace coverage gap usually split.

Medicaid guide for Pennsylvania · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Chicago

The eight largest 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent gaps from Chicago.

Nearby metros

How the salary and tax math works · The reverse city order redirects to this address.