Why is the Cost of Living in Southern Illinois Now Skyrocketing?

It's common knowledge that the closer you get to Chicago, the more expensive it gets to live your life. However, there is new data that shows the cost of living is now skyrocketing in southern Illinois, too.

I did a double-take when I saw this topic brought up on the Illinois sub-Reddit.

What is going on in So. IL COL?
byu/NerdyComfort-78 inillinois

I needed to dig deeper to find out why southern Illinois is now becoming a very expensive place to live. The answer is on the Economic Policy Institute website. They have 8 different categories with data from this year, 2024. It can be summed up in two words: Health Care

The monthly cost of health care in southern Illinois is now outpacing even the northeastern part of the state meaning the Chicagoland area. Many commenters on Reddit point to the limited amount of health options in southern Illinois including just one trauma center in Carbondale as documented by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Others claim it's the lack of health care competition in the southern half of Illinois that's responsible for the now skyrocketing monthly costs. What's odd is that the cost of living is generally low in virtually every other category in the southern half of Illinois. Health care alone is making it very hard to get by in this part of the state.