Places to Live in Illinois
Illinois stretches from the dense Chicago metropolitan region through productive farmland to smaller river cities and communities in southern Illinois. Chicago dominates the state’s population, transit and major-employer landscape, while downstate areas offer lower density and often lower housing costs.
Illinois Highlights
- Chicago as a major global city and transportation hub
- Lake Michigan shoreline and extensive urban amenities
- Large agricultural regions across central Illinois
- Distinct smaller cities and wooded southern landscapes
NarrowTheList Locations in Illinois
NarrowTheList currently includes 27 locations in Illinois. This list updates automatically as additional locations are published.
East North Central
Midwest
- Arlington Heights, IL
- Aurora, IL
- Bloomington-Normal, IL
- Bloomington, IL
- Bolingbrook, IL
- Carbondale, IL
- Champaign-Urbana, IL
- Champaign, IL
- Cicero, IL
- Decatur, IL
- Elgin, IL
- Evanston, IL
- Galena, IL
- Joliet, IL
- Mokena, IL
- Naperville, IL
- Oak Park, IL
- Palatine, IL
- Peoria, IL
- Quincy, IL
- Robbins, IL
- Rockford, IL
- Schaumburg, IL
- Skokie, IL
- Springfield, IL
- Waukegan, IL
Comparing Places to Live in Illinois
Chicago and its suburbs operate very differently from central and southern Illinois. Housing costs, transit access, employment depth, taxes and population trends can vary sharply depending on proximity to the Chicago region.
Use the NarrowTheList locations above to compare housing, employment, climate, recreation, transportation, safety and other factors using the same underlying criteria.