Usually, paying the rent comes out of pocket – but Illinois is helping out with rent and utilities, plus other benefits for moving into two of its western Illinois cities.

Pittsfield and Jacksonville are offering a remote-work incentive close to $10,000 for people to move to their smaller-scaled cities, while keeping jobs to work remotely anywhere in the United States. 

Remote positions can vary from call center operators to customer service representatives, which means even if out of state residents are hired for a job out of state like a data analyst in New York, individuals can still reap the benefits of living in small town America. 

Who is offering the pay to live packages?

Make My Move, an online marketplace for moving with benefits based in Indiana, has been working to connect Illinois cities offering relocation bonuses to remote workers looking to lower their cost of living. 

Jacksonville

The incentive package to move to Jacksonville is roughly $9,300. The requirements for the move is earning at least $50,000 a year or more and living 70 miles currently outside of the Jacksonville Region, before applying. Approved applicants must move to Scott or Morgan County within half a year and spend a year in Jacksonville to receive the benefits.  

Scott and Morgan County’s combined population in 2023 sits at 37,000 according to Census.gov, with the town of Jacksonville in Morgan County, around a 38-minute drive from Springfield.

Pittsfield

Pittsfield is offering $5,000 for relocation with three free months of bundled communication and entertainment, utilities and a one year membership to Access Illinois Outdoors recreational events. 

Pittsfield requires full-time remote workers with a salary of $65,000 or more currently living at least 100 miles outside of the city of Pittsfield. Falling in Pike County, Pittsfield had a population of 4,120 with a median household income of $47,950 in 2022, and is over an hour drive away, around 70 miles, from Springfield.

More: New data shows nearly every Illinois county saw a decrease in population from 2020-2023

Why are smaller towns offering moving incentives?

Illinois lost 83,839 residents who moved to other states in 2023, making the state one of the highest rates of population loss in the U.S. for the 10th consecutive year in a row. Out of 102 Illinois counties counted in the 2023 Census report, seven saw growth: Brown County, Bureau County, Grundy County, Jo Daviess County, Kendall County, McHenry County and Will County. 

The Governor’s Rural Affairs Council 2022 Report attributes the decrease in rural populations to the reduced demand for farmers because of the mechanization of labor, decrease in birthrates and exodus migration caused by lack of job opportunities.

Smaller towns needing more residents to keep the population stable are capitalizing on the new age of remote work post-pandemic, when working from home was normalized, to relocate boundless digital workers to rural towns with lower costs of living. 

Local governments can offer relocation packages to attract newer residents, like Jacksonville who’s offering $5,000 in cash for relocation, $300 in chamber checks from the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce and First National Bank of Arenzville and a myriad of utility benefits plus park passes and gift cards. 

Claire Grant writes about business, growth and development and other news topics for the State Journal-Register. She can be reached at CLGrant@gannett.com; and on X (Formerly known as Twitter): @Claire_Granted