How does your purchasing power actually change? Here's the real breakdown — after taxes, after cost of living.
What the numbers mean
A $75,000 salary in Chicago gives you $60,254 in purchasing power after state income taxes (5.2%) and local cost of living. The same salary in Austin gives you $61,983 — +3% more.
Rent in Austin (around $1,700/month) is only $0/month less than Chicago — housing cost alone doesn't tell the full story here.
No state income tax in Austin. On a $75,000 salary, that's roughly $3,900/year you keep that you wouldn't in Chicago.
Chicago's cost-of-living index is 118 (national average = 100). Austin's is 121.
The honest Chicago-to-Austin take
This is the move I have personally researched more than any other, because it's the one I'm most likely to actually make. The numbers above are accurate but they bury what I think is the real headline: the move is roughly a wash, financially, with a small tax-driven edge to Austin. That's a totally different framing than the "Austin is cheap, you'll save a fortune" story that floats around online, which was true in 2015 and hasn't been since about 2021.
Cost of living is a near-tie. Chicago's COL index is 118, Austin's is 121. Austin is technically more expensive than Chicago by national-average measures, but the gap is small enough to be a rounding error. Median 1-bedroom rent in walkable Austin neighborhoods (Mueller, East Austin, parts of South Austin) runs $1,650 to $1,900. Chicago's comparable neighborhoods (Logan Square, Lincoln Square, Lakeview, Andersonville) run $1,700 to $2,400 depending on how recently the building was built. So Austin rent is modestly cheaper, but not dramatically.
Texas's no-income-tax win is the real edge. Illinois takes 4.95% of your wages plus an effectively 0% Chicago city income tax (Chicago doesn't have one, despite popular myth). Texas takes zero. On a $75,000 salary, that's $3,900 a year in your pocket. On a $150,000 salary, it's $7,800. This is the entire purchasing-power difference the calculator shows, more or less.
What the index misses about Austin. You will own a car. Austin has a bus system and a single MetroRail line; neither is a substitute for the CTA. A used car, insurance, and gas runs $400-$550 a month if you're being careful. Chicagoans who used to skip the car save that money entirely. Net it out and Austin's tax win shrinks by about half for car-free Chicagoans.
Summer is the load-bearing variable. Chicago summers are humid and miserable for maybe six to eight weeks in July-August. Austin summers run from late May through early October. Daytime highs of 95-105°F are normal for ten weeks straight. Heat index occasionally exceeds 110°F. Outdoor activity gets restructured around early morning, late evening, and air-conditioned indoor spaces. Your AC bill in a 1-bedroom can hit $200-$250 a month in July-August. Some people adjust within a year. Some people never do.
Winter is the inverse trade. Austin winters are mild — daytime highs in the 60s, occasional cold snaps with ice storms (the 2021 freeze that blew the power grid is the famous one, but smaller cold-weather events happen every couple of years and Austin infrastructure is not great at handling them). Chicago winters are objectively bad for four months. If winter is the thing that ruins your year, Austin will improve your life on net even if the financial math is a wash.
The cultural weight is real and people downplay it. Chicago has the third-largest theater scene in the country, world-class architecture, museums most cities envy, sports teams whose seasons structure social life, and a restaurant culture that runs deep across every neighborhood. Austin has live music (legitimately excellent), great food, friendly people, and outdoor recreation. Different things. Whether the trade is worth it is genuinely a personal question. People who love both cities exist. People who try Austin and miss Chicago also exist.
For someone making $70-100k whose work would let them keep their salary in Austin, the move is roughly neutral financially — small tax win, offset by car costs, plus or minus a few hundred dollars a month. The real reason to make this move is whether you'd prefer Austin's life to Chicago's. The financial argument is mostly a tiebreaker. Run your real number below to see what your specific situation looks like.
Run your actual numbers
The comparison above uses $75,000 as a baseline. Your result depends on your salary, job type, and whether your employer adjusts pay for location.