Roanoke City
Typical home signal around $215,000.
Moving to Roanoke Metro from Chicago
For people leaving Chicago, Southwest Virginia is one of the better-value places to land. Housing and taxes cost a good deal less here, and you're right next to the Blue Ridge.
5.0% → 5.75%
Top income tax (IL vs VA)
2.10% → ~1%
Property tax rate
~26% lower
Cost of living vs Chicago
$289,950
Median home here
Taxes
IL's top income tax rate is 5.0% versus Virginia's 5.75%, and property taxes run about 2.10% there versus roughly 1% across the region. On a $289,950 home that's a meaningful annual difference.
Cost of living & housing
Overall costs run about 26% lower here than in Chicago. It takes only about $146,667 here to match a $200,000 lifestyle there. The $289,950 median home here would run on the order of $390,944 back in Chicago.
Where to live
For a first pass, compare both the numbers and the lifestyle fit. These are useful starting points before you narrow to specific homes.
Roanoke County
Division reports 95% on-time graduation.
Salem
Salem is an independent city inside the Roanoke metro that still feels like a small town. It runs its own school division and takes Friday-night football seriously.
Then compare the broader area numbers:
| Area | Median price | Tax /$100 |
|---|---|---|
| Roanoke County | $310,000 | 1.09 |
| Roanoke City | $215,000 | 1.22 |
| Salem | $289,950 | 1.19 |
Next steps
Run your numbersUse your actual income, current home value, and target area so the tax and affordability estimate is not generic.
Shortlist two or three areasPick one budget-first option, one commute-first option, and one daily-life option before looking at individual listings.
Check freshnessUse the source notes on each area page, especially where sale data is sparse or assessed values are used as a fallback.
Compare costs in the moving guide →
Sources and freshness
How to read the data for moving from Chicago to Roanoke Metro.
- Last rebuilt 2026-06-23 from the latest records synced into this guide.
- Home-price medians use 16,338 recorded public sale rows across 3 areas.
- Property and tax figures come from county/city parcel, sales, and assessor records.
- School metrics use Virginia Department of Education profiles when available.
- Amenity and business counts use OpenStreetMap, so hours and listings can change.
- Jobs, events, news, and business-directory layers are included only after their feeds or curated sources sync.
- Use these figures as planning estimates, then verify taxes, listings, and school details before making an offer.
Still choosing between Southwest Virginia markets?
This page is focused on Roanoke Metro. Use the region split below to keep nearby towns, commute patterns, and local data straight.
Current guide
Roanoke Metro
A walkable small city with a Level I trauma center and miles of mountain greenway, for a lot less than the coast costs.
Roanoke CountyRoanoke CitySalem
Companion guide
New River Valley
Where Virginia Tech, the New River, and the Blue Ridge all meet, with some of the lowest tax rates in the region.
Montgomery CountyRadfordPulaski CountyGiles CountyFloyd County
Open NRV guide