Ranked · Best value · Illinois

Best value cities in Illinois

Cities of 25,000+ residents, scored with the “Best value” weighting the live tool uses, heaviest on cost of living index, median home price, 2-bedroom rent, median household income. Scores are relative to this set; open the tool to change the weights and re-rank.

1. 1.Decatur, IL70k residents

   71/100

   cost of living index: 77 · median home price: $99,600 · median household income: $51,592

2. 2.Moline, IL42k residents

   71/100

   cost of living index: 80 · median home price: $146,300 · median household income: $67,701

3. 3.Rock Island, IL36k residents

   71/100

   cost of living index: 79 · median home price: $125,900 · median household income: $59,041

4. 4.Rockford, IL148k residents

   69/100

   cost of living index: 80 · median home price: $129,000 · median household income: $54,752

5. 5.Springfield, IL113k residents

   69/100

   cost of living index: 82 · median home price: $162,100 · median household income: $66,064

6. 6.Belleville, IL41k residents

   69/100

   cost of living index: 82 · median home price: $141,300 · median household income: $63,535

7. 7.Quincy, IL39k residents

   69/100

   cost of living index: 80 · median home price: $153,200 · median household income: $56,480

8. 8.Peoria, IL112k residents

   67/100

   cost of living index: 83 · median home price: $156,200 · median household income: $59,410

9. 9.Bloomington, IL79k residents

   67/100

   cost of living index: 86 · median home price: $203,300 · median household income: $77,384

10. 10.Normal, IL54k residents

    67/100

    cost of living index: 85 · median home price: $213,600 · median household income: $64,785

Methodology: each city is scored 0–100 by min–max normalizing every weighted facet across this candidate set (direction-aware), identical math to the tool's “Best fit” tab. A different weighting produces a different order, which is the point: this is a starting shortlist, not a verdict.