What salary do you need to live in Decatur, IL?
The short answer for Decatur, IL: roughly $72,000 before tax puts a two-bedroom household in the Comfortable band, and $36,000 gets it to Okay. The longer answer depends on home size, on whether buying is part of the plan, and on how Decatur's costs compare with Illinois as a whole.
Decatur housing costs at a glance
Renters in Decatur pay a median $859 a month for two bedrooms. Size matters: one bedroom is $688, three bedrooms $1,009, so going from the smallest to the largest of the three adds $3,852 a year.
Buying is the other half of the housing picture: owners put the median home in Decatur, IL at $127,300. Against a median household income of $62,666, the ratio is 2.0× — one of the gentler home-price-to-income ratios in the country.
Price levels matter beyond rent. The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures Decatur's overall prices at 88.4 on a scale where the nation is 100, which makes a $100,000 salary feel like about $113,094 would elsewhere.
How much you need to earn in Decatur
For two bedrooms, $72,000 is where Decatur turns Comfortable. Below that, $36,000 marks the start of Okay and $15,000 the start of Tight; under $15,000 the score reads Stretched. Rent at the Comfortable line is 14% of gross pay.
Royal, the top band, starts at $228,000. At that income rent is 5% of pay and the median home 0.6× income.
How they were found: the same scoring function the calculator runs was evaluated at rising incomes until each cutoff was crossed, and the crossing rounded up to a whole $1,000.
| Grade | Starts at | Rent ÷ income | Home ÷ income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal | $228,000 | 5% | 0.6× |
| Comfortable | $72,000 | 14% | 1.8× |
| Okay | $36,000 | 29% | 3.5× |
| Tight | $15,000 | 69% | 8.5× |
What different incomes look like in Decatur
Take a $75,000 salary. In a one-bedroom the rent share is 11% and the score 70, Comfortable; in a three-bedroom the share rises to 16% and the score falls to 64, Okay.
The two-bedroom column turns Comfortable at the $75,000 row. One row up, $50,000 scores 55.
| Income | 1 bedroom | 2 bedrooms | 3 bedrooms |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | 58 · Okay | 55 · Okay | 52 · Okay |
| $75,000 | 70 · Comfortable | 66 · Comfortable | 64 · Okay |
| $100,000 | 76 · Comfortable | 72 · Comfortable | 70 · Comfortable |
| $150,000 | 82 · Comfortable | 79 · Comfortable | 76 · Comfortable |
Where Decatur falls nationally
On price level Decatur is 325th of 387 (1 = most expensive); on two-bedroom rent it is 371st, and on median home value 386th. Rent and overall prices don't line up exactly, with prices in the least expensive quarter and rent among the least expensive tenth.
Its nearest neighbors on the rent list are Rocky Mount, NC ($861) and Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA ($855).
Decatur vs. the rest of Illinois
Compared with Illinois as a whole, two-bedroom rent in Decatur is 33% lower ($859 vs. $1,284) and the median home is 52% lower ($127,300 vs. $263,300).
The Illinois figure for the Comfortable line, using state medians, is $164,000 against $72,000 for Decatur.
Looking for somewhere comparable without leaving Illinois? Cape Girardeau, MO-IL, Paducah, KY-IL, and Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL have the closest mix of rent and overall prices.
| Metro | 2-bed rent | Median home | Price parity | Comfortable from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decatur, IL | $859 | $127,300 | 88.4 | $72,000 |
| Cape Girardeau, MO | $863 | $208,400 | 86.1 | $86,000 |
| Paducah, KY | $930 | $168,700 | 86.1 | $81,000 |
| Davenport, IA | $974 | $174,100 | 89.1 | $91,000 |
Does the typical Decatur income clear the bar?
What about a typical local household? Census puts median household income here at $62,666, which grades Okay (61) for a two-bedroom at the median rent. The Comfortable line is 15% above what the median household makes. Statewide, the Illinois median household ($83,390) grades Okay on the state's own medians. Since a household can have two or more earners, compare it with a combined income rather than one paycheck.
These are pre-tax estimates from public statistics, not financial advice.
Score your own income in Decatur
Enter your pre-tax income and home size to see Decatur next to all 387 metros.
Open the calculatorSource: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional price parities by MSA (MARPP), line 1 "RPPs: All items"; metros per OMB bulletin 23-01, 2024 (released February 19, 2026); downloaded 2026-10-30.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year B25031 Median Gross Rent by Bedrooms (_003/_004/_005 = 1/2/3 bedrooms), 2020-2024; downloaded 2026-10-30.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year B25077 Median Value (Dollars), owner-occupied housing units, 2020-2024; downloaded 2026-10-30.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year B19013 Median Household Income (display only), 2020-2024; downloaded 2026-10-30.
Reference statistics only — not financial advice.