What salary do you need to live in Champaign, IL?

The cost side of living in Champaign

Census figures put the median gross rent in the Champaign-Urbana, IL metro at $905 for a one-bedroom, $1,079 for a two-bedroom and $1,212 for a three-bedroom. Moving from one to two bedrooms adds $174 a month, and the third bedroom another $133.

The median value of owner-occupied homes in the metro is $201,700. Against a median household income of $65,528, the ratio is 3.1× — one of the gentler home-price-to-income ratios in the country.

The Regional Price Parity, BEA's index of local prices with the US at 100, is 92.7 here. Below 100 means a paycheck stretches further: $100,000 in Champaign has the buying power of roughly $107,870 at national average prices.

Champaign: the pre-tax income for each grade

With a two-bedroom at the median rent, the score enters Tight at $28,000, Okay at $56,000 and Comfortable at $112,000 a year before tax. At the Comfortable line, a year of rent takes 12% of income and the median home is 1.8× income.

The Royal grade is within reach at $344,000 a year, where both rent and the median home price look small next to income.

Nothing here is a separate rule of thumb; plug any of these incomes into the calculator with two bedrooms and Champaign shows the matching grade.

Four salaries, three home sizes in Champaign

Choosing a bigger place in Champaign at $75,000 trims the score from 57 to 52 without leaving Okay.

The two-bedroom column turns Comfortable at the $150,000 row. One row up, $100,000 scores 62.

How Champaign ranks among 387 metros

On price level Champaign is 221st of 387 (1 = most expensive); on two-bedroom rent it is 234th, and on median home value 298th. The two rankings agree, both falling near the middle.

Its nearest neighbors on the rent list are Akron, OH ($1,080) and Chambersburg, PA ($1,078).

Champaign in a Illinois context

How Champaign stacks up against its state: $1,079 for a two-bedroom against Illinois's $1,284, $201,700 for the median home against $263,300, and a price level of 92.7 against 100.0.

Scored the same way, the statewide figures turn Comfortable at $164,000, so Champaign needs $52,000 less than Illinois overall.

Within Illinois, the metros closest to Champaign on rent and overall prices are Bloomington, IL, Rockford, IL, and Kankakee, IL. Their Comfortable lines for two bedrooms sit at $115,000, $101,000, and $120,000.

Does the typical Champaign income clear the bar?

The median household in the metro earns $65,528 (ACS 2020-2024). Run through the calculator with two bedrooms, that scores 50, Okay. Put differently, Champaign's typical household is $46,472 below the $112,000 it takes to read Comfortable on two bedrooms. For Illinois as a whole, the median household income of $83,390 scores 46 against statewide rents. Household income can include more than one earner, so a single salary of the same size goes less far.

All figures are pre-tax estimates from public data, not financial advice.