Kankakee vs Champaign leftover
You'd keep $60 more a month in Champaign
$2,387/mo leftover in Champaign vs $2,327 in Kankakee after tax and rent ($60 more). +$720 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Kankakee leftover
$2,327
a month after tax and rent
Champaign leftover
$2,387
+$60 vs Kankakee
Compare Kankakee to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Kankakee.
Monthly gap
Kankakee → Champaign
$60
more / month in Champaign
$2,387 in Champaign · $2,327 in Kankakee · One adult, renting a 1-bedroom
Home
Only when you tap. We match the nearest metro and don't keep the coordinates.
Destination
In 2022-2023, 43 households moved Kankakee → Champaign (avg AGI $28,930). 33 went the other way. The whole move →
+$60 / mo
| Per month | Kankakee | Champaign | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,042 | $6,730 | −$311 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,726 | $1,618 | −$108 |
| Take-home pay | $5,316 | $5,112 | −$204 |
| Rent | $1,060 | $897 | −$163 |
| Getting around | $560 | $459 | −$101 |
| Groceries | $378 | $378 | $0 |
| Healthcare | $425 | $425 | $0 |
| Utilities | $236 | $236 | $0 |
| Everything else | $330 | $330 | $0 |
| Left over | $2,327 | $2,387 | +$60 |
To break even in Champaign, you'd need to earn
$79,500
Household gross, versus $84,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Kankakee does now.
The tax difference alone
+$185
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 24.5% in Kankakee, 24.0% in Champaign.
More about Champaign
Kankakee, IL in full
A flat 4.95% state income tax, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,262 and 200 sunny days; commutes average 25 minutes.
Champaign, IL in full
A flat 4.95% state income tax, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,068 and 204 sunny days; commutes average 18 minutes.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Champaign on Champaign wages.
Champaign → Kankakee →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Champaign than Kankakee?
A one-bedroom is about $1,060 in Kankakee versus $897 in Champaign. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $60 a month higher in Champaign. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Champaign have state income tax?
Champaign is in Illinois, which taxes wage income.
What changes if you move from Kankakee to Champaign?
Take-home pay is recalculated under Illinois tax, rent is priced at the same bedroom count, and leftover is the gap. The from-to page also lists IRS households that already made the move, when that data exists.
Leftover is take-home after federal, state and city wage tax, minus asking rent at the bedroom count you set, minus a modelled month of groceries, utilities, healthcare, transport and childcare. It is not a cost-of-living index and not a moving quote. The dollar gap between Kankakee and Champaign moves when you change the job, remote versus local pay, or bedrooms. How the math works · Leftover vs a COL index · Why a cheaper COL% can still lose leftover.
Rent is Zillow's asking rent for each metro; taxes and living costs are modelled. An estimate, not a quote or tax advice. How this is calculated.