Short answer: if you are moving to Miami and want moving from Illinois (Chicago) to Miami: the tax case — here is the honest version, because Illinois is the northern state where the tax argument is weakest and most often oversold. Illinois charges a flat 4.95% income tax, so on US$150,000 of Illinois base income you pay US$7,280 a year vs. US$0 in Florida — real money, but roughly half of what a New Yorker saves. And unlike New York, the rent line runs against you: a median one-bedroom costs US$2,200 in Chicago vs. US$2,500 in Miami. Run the full ledger and moving to Miami from Illinois saves a median one-bedroom renter about US$285 a month at US$150,000 of income — and almost nothing, US$78 a month, at US$100,000. Below roughly US$81,000, that renter actually loses money on these lines. Where the Illinois case gets strong is not wages at all — it is property tax, sales tax and the Illinois estate tax. This is the cost of living Miami breakdown I run with clients coming from Chicago, line by line.
Updated: October 18, 2026.
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Moving to Miami from Illinois: the income-tax math, without the sales pitch
Illinois is simple where New York is layered: one flat rate, 4.95%, no Chicago city income tax on top. The state starts from your federal return, subtracts a personal exemption — US$2,925 per person for 2026 — and taxes the rest at that single rate. My arithmetic below is for a single filer on Illinois base income, after that exemption and before credits. Florida, by its constitution, levies no individual income tax at all, so every figure in the Illinois column goes to zero the year you are genuinely a Florida resident.
| The line (2026) | Illinois / Chicago | Florida / Miami |
|---|---|---|
| State income tax on US$100,000 of base income (single, after US$2,925 exemption) | US$4,805 a year | US$0 |
| State income tax on US$150,000 | US$7,280 a year | US$0 |
| State income tax on US$300,000 | US$14,705 a year | US$0 |
| One-bedroom median asking rent (Zumper, September 2026) | US$2,200 | US$2,500 |
| Combined sales tax | 10.25% in Chicago | 7.0% in Miami-Dade |
| Effective property tax on owner-occupied homes | 1.88% (second-highest in the U.S.) | 0.757% in Miami-Dade |
| State estate tax | Yes — over a US$4,000,000 exclusion, up to 16% | None |
| Regular gasoline (AAA, October 2026) | US$4.67 a gallon statewide; US$5.06 in the City of Chicago | US$4.08 statewide; US$4.18 in the Miami metro |
Compare that with the other northern exits on this site: moving to Miami from New York saves US$13,971 a year of state and city tax at US$150,000, and New Jersey’s graduated rates bite harder still. Illinois at the same income saves US$7,280. That does not make the move wrong — it makes the reason different, and it means your other lines have to carry more of the case. Which brings me to the line most Chicago movers price backwards.
Cost of living in Miami vs Chicago: rent goes up, not down
Every other northern move I model hands you a rent cut. This one hands you a rent increase. The median Chicago one-bedroom in Zumper’s September 2026 national report is US$2,200; the median Miami one-bedroom is US$2,500 — US$300 a month, US$3,600 a year, in the wrong direction. An independent floor check agrees the two cities are closer than the marketing suggests: MIT’s Living Wage Calculator puts the income a single adult needs before taxes at US$52,909 in Cook County vs. US$54,037 in Miami-Dade County — a gap of just US$1,128 a year. Chicago’s housing line in MIT’s tables (US$17,405) is far cheaper than Miami-Dade’s (US$22,049); what closes the gap is everything else.
So I model the move the way I model it in a first call — rent at city medians, getting around and food from MIT’s county tables, income tax as computed above:
| Single renter, one-bedroom (monthly) | Chicago | Miami |
|---|---|---|
| Rent (Zumper medians, September 2026) | US$2,200 | US$2,500 |
| State income tax at US$150,000 of base income | US$607 | US$0 |
| Getting around, one adult (MIT county tables ÷ 12) | US$601 | US$616 |
| Food, one adult (MIT county tables ÷ 12) | US$393 | US$400 |
| Model total at US$150,000 | US$3,801 | US$3,516 |
Miami’s non-tax lines cost US$322 a month more — US$3,866 a year. The 4.95% Illinois tax only covers that above roughly US$81,000 of base income. At US$100,000 the net saving shrinks to about US$78 a month (US$939 a year); at US$150,000 it is US$285 a month (US$3,414 a year); at US$300,000 it becomes US$903 a month (US$10,839 a year). My rule for Chicago clients: if you rent and earn under that breakeven, move for the life you want — do not let anyone sell you the move as a tax saving. If you want to see how the same ledger looks from the most expensive origin, read my cost of living Miami vs New York breakdown.
What most people don’t know
1. If you are retired on retirement income, your Illinois income tax is already zero. Illinois exempts virtually all of it — Social Security, pensions, 401(k), 403(b), 457 and IRA distributions, even Roth conversions are subtracted before the 4.95% rate applies. A couple living on a pension and Social Security pays US$0 of Illinois income tax today, so moving saves US$0 on that line. What Illinois does tax at 4.95% is wages, business income, rent you collect and capital gains — it taxes capital gains as ordinary income, with no preferential rate. The tax case for moving is a working-income and investment-income case, not a retirement-income case.
2. For owners, the property tax is the real case — and it just spiked. Illinois carries a 1.88% effective property tax rate on owner-occupied housing, second-highest in the country. On a US$500,000 home that is about US$9,400 a year vs. about US$3,785 at Miami-Dade’s 0.757% effective rate, before Florida’s homestead exemption takes up to another US$50,000 off the assessed value — a gap of roughly US$5,615 a year. And Cook County’s own treasurer reports the median Chicago residential bill jumped 16.7% in one year, to US$4,457 (tax year 2024, billed in 2025) — the largest percentage increase in at least 30 years — while the north and northwest suburbs’ median reached US$8,007. The honest clawback: Florida homeowners insurance averages US$8,471 a year, the highest in the U.S., so I never sign off on the owner case until we have an insurance quote on the actual Miami address. If the numbers still work after that quote, they work for real.
3. Illinois has an estate tax Florida simply does not have. Die an Illinois resident with a taxable estate above US$4,000,000 and Illinois taxes it at up to 16% — even though the federal exclusion for 2026 is US$15,000,000, so estates between US$4 million and US$15 million can owe Illinois tax and no federal tax at all. The Illinois exclusion is also not portable between spouses, which punishes couples who never planned around it. Florida has no estate or inheritance tax. For a family in that band, this single line can outweigh a decade of income-tax savings — and it only works if the domicile change is real and documented before it matters.
4. There is no 183-day trap — but there is an intent test. New York keeps a statutory-resident rule based on days; Illinois does not. Illinois calls you a resident if you are domiciled there for the whole year, or present for other than a temporary or transitory purpose. You lose Illinois domicile only by doing two things together: locating somewhere else with the intention of making it your domicile, and abandoning any intention of returning. Keeping the Chicago condo, the club and the doctors while renting a Miami apartment for winter is a second home, not a domicile change — Illinois will keep taxing you, correctly. I walk through the evidence file in the 183-day rule and how to prove Florida domicile; the day-count part is New York’s, but the proof discipline is the same.
Leaving Illinois cleanly: the timeline I use
The move year. You file as an Illinois part-year resident (Form IL-1040 with the Schedule NR allocation), paying Illinois tax on income received while you were an Illinois resident — and on Illinois-source income whenever you receive it. There is no Illinois exit tax and no withholding trick at a closing like New Jersey’s; the risk is not a departure levy, it is a residency question later, answered with documents.
What keeps following you. Illinois-source income stays taxable to you as a nonresident: rent from a Chicago property you keep, income from an Illinois business, deferred pay sourced to Illinois workdays. Sell or restructure those with the tax cost priced in before the move, not after — the same discipline I apply to the New York exit audit, even though Illinois audits departures far less famously.
The Florida side, in the first 30 days. Florida residency is built with dated paper: get the Florida driver’s license within 30 days of establishing residency, title and register your vehicle with Florida insurance within 10 days, register to vote, and if you buy, occupy by January 1 and file for homestead by March 1 — the exemption plus the Save Our Homes 3% assessment cap is a compounding part of the owner case above. If you are still deciding where to land, start with best Miami neighborhoods for northern transplants — the car question I raise there decides the transport line in the model for Chicago movers too.
The everyday win nobody models. Chicago’s combined sales tax is 10.25% — the Tax Foundation’s own midyear report uses Chicago shoppers crossing into suburbs to dodge it as its example — against 7.0% in Miami-Dade. That is US$325 back per US$10,000 of taxable purchases, every year, at any income. One caution in the other direction: Illinois repealed its 1% state grocery tax on January 1, 2026, but many localities replaced it with their own 1%, so do not assume your current grocery register is tax-free — while Florida exempts groceries for home consumption outright. Gasoline adds a smaller win: AAA put Illinois at US$4.67 a gallon and Florida at US$4.08 in October 2026 — about US$283 a year at 12,000 miles and 25 mpg.
Frequently asked questions
How much income tax do I actually save moving from Illinois to Florida?
At the flat 4.95%, after the US$2,925 personal exemption: about US$4,805 a year on US$100,000 of Illinois base income, US$7,280 on US$150,000 and US$14,705 on US$300,000 (single filer, before credits, my arithmetic on the Illinois Department of Revenue’s rate). But a median one-bedroom renter hands back US$3,866 a year of that to Miami’s higher rent, transport and food lines — so the net saving is about US$939 a year at US$100,000 and US$3,414 at US$150,000.
I am retiring from Chicago. Do I save income tax by moving to Miami?
On retirement income, no — Illinois already exempts Social Security, pensions and 401(k)/IRA distributions, so that tax is already US$0. Your case, if you have one, is property tax (if you own), the Illinois estate tax (if your estate is over US$4 million) and sales tax — weighed against Florida homeowners insurance if you buy. I run those lines with retirees before any tax claim is made.
Does Illinois have a 183-day rule or an exit tax?
Neither. Illinois residency turns on domicile and on being present for other than a temporary purpose — an intent test, not a day count — and there is no exit tax. You file a part-year return for the move year, and Illinois-source income (a Chicago rental, an Illinois business) remains taxable to you afterward as a nonresident.
Is Miami cheaper than Chicago overall in 2026?
For basic needs, the floors are nearly identical: MIT’s Living Wage Calculator puts the required pre-tax income for a single adult at US$52,909 in Cook County vs. US$54,037 in Miami-Dade. Chicago housing is cheaper; Miami’s tax lines are cheaper. Which city costs you less depends on whether you rent or own and where your income comes from — which is exactly what the model above is for.
Yara Coker — SETTLE, relocation services in Miami.
Want help with your move to Miami?
Send me your Chicago rent or property tax bill and your income range, and I will run this same ledger with your real numbers — including the retirement-income exemption and the Florida insurance quote most comparisons hide — and tell you honestly whether the tax case carries your move or whether you are moving for better reasons. First call is free and there is no obligation.
Sources: Illinois Department of Revenue — individual income tax rate of 4.95% (35 ILCS 5/201) and IL-1040 instructions, “Who is an Illinois resident?”; Illinois Comptroller Payroll Bulletin 1-26 (2026 personal exemption US$2,925, per IDOR Booklet IL-700-T). Retirement-income subtraction: 35 ILCS 5/203 and IDOR guidance on pensions, Social Security and retirement income. Residency and domicile: 35 ILCS 5/1501(a)(20); 86 Ill. Adm. Code 100.3020(d); IDOR General Information Letter IT 21-0001 (April 14, 2021). Florida levies no individual income tax (Florida Constitution, Article VII, Section 5) and no estate or inheritance tax. Tax Foundation, 2026 Illinois profile (flat 4.95% income tax; 1.88% effective property tax on owner-occupied housing; 6.25% state sales tax) and 2026 Sales Tax Rates, Midyear Update (Chicago combined 10.25%). Zumper National Rent Report, September 2026 (Chicago one-bedroom median US$2,200; Miami one-bedroom US$2,500, two-bedroom US$3,230). MIT Living Wage Calculator, county tables updated February 15, 2026 (Cook County and Miami-Dade County: living wages, housing, transportation and food expenses, required incomes). Cook County Treasurer’s Office, analyses of tax year 2024 bills billed in 2025 (City of Chicago median residential bill +16.7% to US$4,457) and tax year 2025 bills billed in 2026 (north and northwest suburbs median US$8,007). Estate tax: Illinois estate tax exclusion US$4,000,000 and top rate 16% for 2026, exclusion not portable (2026 compilations by Faegre Drinker and Nixon Peabody); federal estate tax exclusion US$15,000,000 for 2026 (IRS). Gasoline: AAA state averages via USA Today, October 2026 (Illinois US$4.67; Florida US$4.08) and AAA data via Stacker, October 16, 2026 (City of Chicago US$5.06; Miami metro US$4.18). Homeowners insurance: Insurance.com 2026 state average for Florida, US$8,471. Miami-Dade effective property tax 0.757%: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2024, compiled October 2026. Illinois grocery tax: state 1% tax repealed January 1, 2026 under Public Act 103-0781, with local replacement taxes authorized (IDOR Publication PIO-115). Income-tax dollar figures, the renter model, the breakeven income and the property-tax model are SETTLE arithmetic on the sources above; individual circumstances vary and this page is not tax advice.
Versión en español: Vivir en Miami desde Illinois (Chicago): el caso fiscal
