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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Chicago to Worcester

Chicago, IL vs Worcester, MA

Simple answer

You'd likely save $32 a month in Chicago.

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 10.2 index points lower in Worcester (97.0 versus 107.3).

Illinois taxes wages at a flat 4.95%. Massachusetts taxes wages at rates up to 9.00%. Combined sales tax differs by 2.7 percentage points, higher in Illinois. The effective property tax gap is 0.92 percentage points, higher in Illinois.

After a move from Illinois to Massachusetts, 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 $74,224 in Worcester 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

Worcester

Worcester, MA

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$2,043
HUD area
Worcester, MA HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,563
All-items price parity
102.5
Goods price parity
97.0
Utilities price parity
155.2
Mean commute
29.8 min
Median household income
$96,602

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

$74,224

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

After state and federal tax

$74,023

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

Rent only

$76,193

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

TaxIllinoisMassachusetts
State income tax on wages4.95% flatup to 9.00%
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20269.0%6.3%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median1.92%1.00%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $7,694 a year in Illinois and $4,004 in Massachusetts. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Massachusetts

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

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    ChicagoLikely eligible

    WorcesterLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    ChicagoLikely eligible

    WorcesterLikely eligible

  • WIC

    ChicagoLikely eligible

    WorcesterLikely eligible

  • School meals

    ChicagoLikely eligible

    WorcesterLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    ChicagoMaybe

    WorcesterMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    ChicagoLikely eligible

    WorcesterLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    ChicagoLikely eligible

    WorcesterLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    ChicagoUnlikely

    WorcesterUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    ChicagoLikely eligible

    WorcesterLikely eligible

  • SSI

    ChicagoUnlikely

    WorcesterUnlikely

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 Massachusetts · 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.