Chicago relocation — four salary scenarios
The Meta base is still open. These four scenarios hold everything else fixed — bonus at 20% of base, 128 RSUs at $680 ($87,040) — and run each base through the same model as the September analysis: US federal + Illinois tax (MFJ, two children, 2026 IRS parameters), household essentials, the Dublin letting drag, and a 30%-of-net rent cap. Each cap is then tested against the areas already researched: only areas with at least one school rated 8/10 or above, ranked by schools first, then downtown, culture, walk/bike, transit and diversity.
What “401(k) maxed” means — yes, it is a pension
A 401(k) is the US workplace pension. “Maxed” means voluntarily paying in the legal maximum from your salary before tax — $24,500 a year at these income levels. It is your money, kept in your pension account; it is not a tax and it is not lost. It lowers the cash in each paycheck (by roughly $1,350–$1,460 a month after the tax saving), and Meta adds a match of $0.50 per dollar up to a flat cap of $12,250 a year — but only if you pay in the full $24,500. The rent cap on this page is calculated on the net without maxing the 401(k); the maxed take-home is shown in each scenario too — a cap set on that lower cash figure would come out tighter. Bonus and RSU income are the natural source for the 401(k) contributions, which is why they are kept out of the rent math.
Pick a base salary scenario
Areas that fit
School filter passed, but not in the ranking
Nothing below was eliminated for quality. These areas all have a school rated 8/10 or above; they are out of the ranking only because of rent or missing rental data.
The one-time Redfin refresh of Nov 7 2026 still returned no houses for these areas, so no affordability verdict exists either way. That includes Oak Park ESD 97 — the highest-quality area without data (best school 10/10) — all 9 of its schools came back with zero houses. Several others score very highly on schools and profile — they are worth a fresh rental search before ruling them out.
What changed in this refresh
The rental data is no longer the frozen Oct 23 2026 set: 219 school checks were re-run on Redfin on Nov 7 2026 and the ranking recomputed. Coverage rose from 34 to 46 of the 97 areas that pass the school filter; 51 still have no rental data.
9 areas gained rental data: Des Plaines CCSD 62, Dunning, East Prairie SD 73, Elmhurst SD 205, Forest Glen, LaGrange Highlands SD 106, Northbrook/Glenview SD 30, Plainfield CUSD 202, West Town.
Notable minimum-rent moves: North Center $8,495 → $3,900; Downers Grove GSD 58 $3,699 → $2,850; Itasca SD 10 $7,950 → $3,225; Woodridge SD 68 $5,000 → $3,100; Indian Prairie CUSD 204 now $3,000 (was $3,875). Some October listings are gone: Butler SD 53 and Sunset Ridge SD 29 lost their 4-bed houses, and Avondale now has no qualifying 4-bed house (its only card was a unit, removed under the strict house-only rule).
Northbrook ESD 27 — read the $1,500 with care: that minimum is a verified single-family house (3430 Sorrel Dr, Northbrook, 4-bed/2-bath) that Redfin itself flags as $923 below its own rental estimate for the property (estimate $2,423). It is unusually cheap, not a listing error — and it is the reason Northbrook ESD 27 ranks as high as it does.
How the ranking works
| Factor | Weight | Measure |
|---|---|---|
| Schools | × 6 | Best GreatSchools rating in the area (8–10), scaled to the 1–4 profile range (rating × 0.4). Filter first: an area needs at least one school at 8/10 or above to appear at all. |
| Downtown | × 5 | Area Profile score, 1–4. |
| Culture | × 4 | Area Profile score, 1–4. |
| Walk / bike | × 3 | Area Profile score, 1–4. |
| Transit | × 2 | Area Profile score, 1–4. |
| Diversity | × 1 | Area Profile score, 1–4. |
| House size bonus | + 6 | Added when a 4-bedroom house rents within the cap. A 3-bedroom-only area keeps its full quality score with no bonus, so it can still outrank a weaker 4-bedroom area — but at equal quality, the 4-bedroom area always wins. Quality runs 0–84; the final score runs 0–90. |
Affordability test: the cheapest qualifying house in the Nov 7 2026 Redfin refresh data. 4-bedroom first; if no 4-bedroom fits the cap, the cheapest 3-bedroom is tested instead and the area is flagged “3-bed only”. Commute time and distance to downtown are excluded, as agreed.
All four scenarios side by side
| Base | Total gross | Base-only net / mo | Rent cap (30%) | 4-bed areas in | 3-bed-only areas in |
|---|
Method and sources. Tax model replicated from the 24 Sep 2026 financial analysis: IRS 2026 parameters (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), MFJ standard deduction $32,200, child tax credit $4,400, Illinois 4.95%, Social Security capped at $184,500, $200/mo pre-tax medical premium. This reproduces the locked figures exactly at $200k and $210k (base nets $12,675 and $13,272/mo). Bonus taxed stacked on base; RSUs taxed stacked last (net ≈ $59,800–$60,400/yr across scenarios). Non-rent essentials $2,650–$4,571/mo are the itemised no-car, public-school lines from the same analysis (healthcare premium and out-of-pocket, groceries, transit, utilities, after-school care, misc/insurance/phones).
Dublin letting drag: −$372/mo steady state at €2,800/mo rent, DNG Gillespie Lowe fees (2% letting + 8% management, both +23% VAT), Avant Money interest €11,402 in 2027, full €1,000 RPRIR credit, FX 1.13869. Year 1 is −$433/mo; if the RPRIR credit is apportioned for non-residence, −$443/mo steady state / −$504 year 1. The DNG quote is dated 30 Sep 2025 and not yet confirmed as current. Insurance, repairs and furniture wear-and-tear are still unknown and would reduce the drag.
Areas: 161 areas from the relocation portal — 77 Chicago community areas and 84 suburban school districts. School ratings are GreatSchools (retrieved 2026) over the 2024–25 Illinois Report Card school set; 97 of 161 areas have a school at 8/10+. Area Profile scores are the portal’s 1–4 judgements (Oct 2026). Rentals: one-time Redfin refresh Nov 7 2026 (4-bed: 269 schools; 3-bed: 40 schools). Cheapest listing per school attendance zone. The refresh covers 46 of the 97 qualifying areas; 51 still have no rental data, including Oak Park ESD 97 (all 9 of its schools returned zero houses) — indicative, not live; the nightly refresh was scrapped. Nothing here is tax or investment advice.