Moving from Illinois to Florida: The Honest Guide

Why Illinois families keep landing in Florida

The first conversation I have with an Illinois family usually starts with a joke about property tax, then turns serious very quickly. A family in a house worth $400,000 in a Chicago suburb, paying five figures a year in property tax, doing the math on what that same money buys in Florida, and wondering, out loud, what their life looks like without it.

The migration data backs up the feeling. About 27,109 Illinoisans moved to Florida in 2023, making Florida the number-two destination for Illinois residents who leave, and in 2022 the flow was even larger at about 35,262 (U.S. Census and IRS migration data). Overall roughly 282,800 people left Illinois for other states in 2024, and Illinois ranked 48th in the country for domestic net migration (USAFacts). The drivers are consistent: the highest property taxes in the nation, a flat income tax, brutal winters, and the pull of a warmer, cheaper coastal life.

Illinois is a wonderful place, and I have clients who love it and stay. This guide is for the families who have already decided, or are close to deciding, and want the real numbers and the real trade-offs, not a brochure. Here they are.

Climate and lifestyle: the honest contrast

Illinois is Midwest through and through: four real seasons, lake-effect snow in the northern tier, and a pace that runs on schedule. Florida is built on the opposite of the winter part. The year splits into a mild dry season and a hot, humid one, and the water is not something you drive hours to reach, it is the neighborhood you live in, ocean, river, or Intracoastal.

The honest part of the contrast: Florida's summer is hot in a way Illinois summers rarely are, with humidity that makes the air feel heavy from about May through October, and the afternoon thunderstorm is a daily rhythm most of that stretch. The air conditioner runs many months of the year and the electric bill follows. What you get for it is an outdoor life that never closes: a beach walk in December, a boat on the St. Lucie or Indian River whenever the mood strikes, and no snow shovel in the garage. For families used to Midwest winters, that trade is usually the easiest yes of the whole decision.

The distance, and the logistics of getting here

This is a manageable move, and it deserves respect. Chicago to Miami is about 1,375 to 1,400 miles by road, roughly 20 hours of driving nonstop (TravelMath and Visit Florida), with West Palm Beach about 70 miles closer. But the way Illinois families actually make the trip is the nonstop from O'Hare to Fort Lauderdale or West Palm Beach, about three hours, which keeps family visits, Bears games, and summer trips back north entirely practical.

The planning list matters. Florida driver's license and vehicle registration, insurance rewrites, utilities, school enrollment, mail forwarding, and the address changes at your bank, payroll, and investments all need a deadline, and the Moving to Florida Checklist gives them one. Families who print it early tell me the move runs on rails; families who wing it run into registration lines in two states.

If you still work for an Illinois employer, ask HR and your CPA about residency and withholding before you move, since Illinois taxes income earned by residents. Remote workers are common along the Florida coast, and the no-income-tax math makes a remote salary stretch further the moment your residency officially changes.

The money: taxes and cost of living, side by side

Illinois's tax burden is the honest engine of this move. A flat 4.95% income tax plus the highest effective property tax rate in the nation is a heavy combination, and Florida removes or shrinks both. Every figure below carries a named source and an as-of date, and your personal number comes from your income, your home, and your county.

Sources: Illinois income tax rate, Illinois Department of Revenue; Illinois property tax rate and median bill, Illinois Policy Institute, PropertyTaxAtlas, and Construction Coverage citing U.S. Census ACS 2024; Illinois median home price, Redfin, September 2026; Illinois-to-Florida migration, U.S. Census and IRS migration data, 2022-2023; Chicago to Miami driving distance, TravelMath and Visit Florida, 2026; ORD to FLL/PBI flight time, flight schedules, 2026. Florida figures reflect state law and county medians for the 2026 market as reported in the Relocation Hub's county data.

What the tax math actually looks like

For an Illinois family, the combined burden is the highest in the nation. The income tax is a flat 4.95% (Illinois Department of Revenue, in effect since July 1, 2017), and the effective property tax rate is near 2%, with a median annual bill around $5,300 (Illinois Policy Institute and U.S. Census ACS 2024). Move to Florida and both change hard: no state income tax at any income level, and an effective property tax rate around 0.76% with a median bill near $2,730.

The sales side follows the same direction. Illinois's state sales tax is 6.25%, and local add-ons push the combined rate to about 8.3% to 8.9% on average, with Chicago near 10.25%. Florida's 6% state sales tax plus county surcharges typically lands around 6.5% to 7%, so day-to-day purchases are cheaper in most Florida counties. The Homestead Exemption shields up to $50,000 of assessed value and the Save Our Homes cap holds assessment growth near 3% a year. Line it all up and the property-tax savings alone commonly run $2,500 or more a year, with the income tax gone on top. The complete breakdown is in the Florida Tax Guide for New Residents.

What your home-buying dollar buys here

Illinois's median home price was about $308,000 to $323,000 in 2025-2026 (Redfin), with Zillow's average home value near $294,000. Our Florida county medians run from about $367,000 in Indian River County to about $682,000 for single-family homes in Miami-Dade. The practical translation:

• Around $350,000 to $450,000: the same money that buys a Chicago-area home with a five-figure property tax bill buys a three-bedroom single-family home with a pool in Port St. Lucie or Fort Pierce, or a riverfront townhome on the Treasure Coast.
• At $500,000 to $700,000: newer construction in St. Lucie and Martin Counties, gated-community homes in Palm Beach County, or waterfront with a dock on the Treasure Coast, all at a fraction of the property tax you would carry on a comparable Illinois home.

The buying process for Illinois buyers is well-worn: pre-approval from a lender who writes Florida loans, video tours and live walkthroughs, a local inspection, and remote closings when the calendar needs them. The Buying from Out of State guide walks through each step, and the calculators below build the true monthly number before you book a flight.

The honest Florida surprises

Illinois families are exceptionally well prepared for most moves. The Florida surprises are the costs and rhythms that do not exist in the Midwest, and they are all planable if you know them in advance.

• Insurance is a budget line, not a footnote. Florida's average annual homeowners premium runs about $3,800 to $3,900 including wind (Florida OIR / Insurance Information Institute, 2025-2026 data). Flood insurance is separate where the map requires it. We pull the flood map and get real quotes for the exact home before any offer, full stop.
• The hot season is long and humid. May through October runs hot, with afternoon storms as a near-daily rhythm and higher summer electric bills. Hurricane season, June 1 to November 30, is a real planning habit for families here, and it is manageable, but it is not optional. Illinois families who thrive are the ones who treat preparedness as a checklist item, which is exactly their strength.
• The pace of life is slower, and the trade is the point. Illinois is orderly and on time; Florida runs on a warmer clock. The first year can feel loose to a family used to Midwest precision, and the second year is usually when the shoulders come down. It is a feature of the place, not a bug.
• HOA dues, CDD assessments, and no state income tax on the other side. Many Florida communities add HOA fees and Community Development District assessments on top of the mortgage, and Florida, like Illinois, charges sales tax on clothing. None of it is a deal-breaker. All of it belongs in the monthly number, and all of it goes into ours.

Every one of these is planable, and every Illinois family I have guided through them says the same thing a year in: the surprises were the part I could plan for, and the life is the part I could not have imagined.

The questions Illinois families ask me most

Honest, specific answers to the questions I hear on every strategy call with Illinois families. Same facts, same plain talk, no sales script.