Cost of Living in Chicago
Summary about cost of living in Chicago:
- Four-person family monthly costs: 3,802.03$ without rent (using our estimator).
- A single person monthly costs: 1,045.94$ without rent.
- Cost of living index in Chicago is 18.10% lower than in New York.
- Rent in Chicago is, on average, 43.07% lower than in New York.
- Cost of living rank 31st out of 493 cities in the world.
- Chicago has a cost of living index of 81.90.
| Restaurants | [ Edit ] | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Meal, Inexpensive Restaurant | 15.00 $ | |
| Meal for 2 People, Mid-range Restaurant, Three-course | 70.00 $ | |
| McMeal at McDonalds (or Equivalent Combo Meal) | 8.00 $ | |
| Domestic Beer (1 pint draught) | 6.00 $ | |
| Imported Beer (12 oz small bottle) | 7.00 $ | |
| Cappuccino (regular) | 4.30 $ | |
| Coke/Pepsi (12 oz small bottle) | 1.98 $ | |
| Water (12 oz small bottle) | 1.66 $ | |
| Markets | [ Edit ] | |
| Milk (regular), (1 gallon) | 2.96 $ | |
| Loaf of Fresh White Bread (1 lb) | 2.84 $ | |
| Rice (white), (1 lb) | 2.06 $ | |
| Eggs (regular) (12) | 2.24 $ | |
| Local Cheese (1 lb) | 5.42 $ | |
| Chicken Fillets (1 lb) | 4.62 $ | |
| Beef Round (1 lb) (or Equivalent Back Leg Red Meat) | 6.00 $ | |
| Apples (1 lb) | 2.32 $ | |
| Banana (1 lb) | 0.74 $ | |
| Oranges (1 lb) | 2.20 $ | |
| Tomato (1 lb) | 1.95 $ | |
| Potato (1 lb) | 1.57 $ | |
| Onion (1 lb) | 1.32 $ | |
| Lettuce (1 head) | 1.77 $ | |
| Water (1.5 liter bottle) | 2.42 $ | |
| Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range) | 14.00 $ | |
| Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle) | 1.94 $ | |
| Imported Beer (12 oz small bottle) | 2.00 $ | |
| Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro) | 14.00 $ | |
| Transportation | [ Edit ] | |
| One-way Ticket (Local Transport) | 2.50 $ | |
| Monthly Pass (Regular Price) | 105.00 $ | |
| Taxi Start (Normal Tariff) | 3.25 $ | |
| Taxi 1 mile (Normal Tariff) | 2.25 $ | |
| Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff) | 24.00 $ | |
| Gasoline (1 gallon) | 3.22 $ | |
| Volkswagen Golf 1.4 90 KW Trendline (Or Equivalent New Car) | 23,000.00 $ | |
| Toyota Corolla Sedan 1.6l 97kW Comfort (Or Equivalent New Car) | 21,806.93 $ | |
| Utilities (Monthly) | [ Edit ] | |
| Basic (Electricity, Heating, Cooling, Water, Garbage) for 915 sq ft Apartment | 134.31 $ | |
| 1 min. of Prepaid Mobile Tariff Local (No Discounts or Plans) | 0.22 $ | |
| Internet (60 Mbps or More, Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL) | 67.44 $ | |
| Sports And Leisure | [ Edit ] | |
| Fitness Club, Monthly Fee for 1 Adult | 51.57 $ | |
| Tennis Court Rent (1 Hour on Weekend) | 23.63 $ | |
| Cinema, International Release, 1 Seat | 15.00 $ | |
| Childcare | [ Edit ] | |
| Preschool (or Kindergarten), Full Day, Private, Monthly for 1 Child | 1,273.61 $ | |
| International Primary School, Yearly for 1 Child | 18,665.59 $ | |
| Clothing And Shoes | [ Edit ] | |
| 1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar) | 48.88 $ | |
| 1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store (Zara, H&M, ...) | 40.16 $ | |
| 1 Pair of Nike Running Shoes (Mid-Range) | 83.20 $ | |
| 1 Pair of Men Leather Business Shoes | 108.91 $ | |
| Rent Per Month | [ Edit ] | |
| Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre | 1,876.10 $ | |
| Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre | 1,269.65 $ | |
| Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre | 3,508.66 $ | |
| Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre | 2,152.17 $ | |
| Buy Apartment Price | [ Edit ] | |
| Price per Square Feet to Buy Apartment in City Centre | 392.53 $ | |
| Price per Square Feet to Buy Apartment Outside of Centre | 196.52 $ | |
| Salaries And Financing | [ Edit ] | |
| Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax) | 4,284.38 $ | |
| Mortgage Interest Rate in Percentages (%), Yearly, for 20 Years Fixed-Rate | 4.11 |
Prices in Chicago, Illinois
This city had 2295 entries in the past 12 months by 301 different contributors.
Last update: May 2020
Last update: May 2020
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7 Comments so far
LISTEN TO DR. KNUT WITTOWSKI, DR. RASHID BUTTAR, DR. JUDY MIKOVITS
WAKE UP AND STOP LIVING IN FEAR!
The salaries are someone less but still quite competitive in Chicago for IT talent.
The avg salary in Chicago is at least 160K for a experienced IT (10+ year) professional in the private sector.
I would say U.S citizen entry level professionals starts out at 80K.
For those working in IT on a H1B visa, your salary is going to cap out at 80-90K, even after several years of exp.
I myself work in IT with 12 years of exp and have $9000 USD monthly take home pay after taxes and after 5% 401k retirement contribution,
and that also doesn't include yearly bonus.
The cost to buy a condo in the city is center is about $380 per sq feet in a nice area such as River North, which is where most young
educated professional live.
In South Loop you can find better deals, around $300 per sq feet.
Chicago has very high property taxes, $5000-9000 a year on a nice 1 bedroom condo, and about 500 a month
for HOA fees.
Renting in River North is about $2300 for a one bedroom apartment.
Most people I know without college degrees, do 2-3 side hustles such as bartending, and uber driving.
Minimum wage in Chicago is 13$ not 8$. Also, average income of 3800$ monthly after tax is REAL. Because it's not MEDIAN income! People you need to make difference between average and median! Median income is income that most of workers have and for Chicago it's most likely 2500$/mo after tax. Average income is 3800$ because of billionares and those who make 100k+. Average income is calculated like this: totalize income of all Chicago citizens and divide with population number. Here's example: I make 50k, my sister makes 100k, average salary would be 75k, so she has more and lives rich while I'm living worse 25k than average salary! Median income is more likely representative for wealth. Median income would be this: Person A makes 50k, Person B 50k, Person C 50k, Person D 100k. Median income would be 50k because thats amount that most have, while average income would be 62k which would be a total lie for most of them except person D. I hope I've helped you understand the Average wage stated above. My suggestion to admins, add median salary too.
Anyone saying Chicago is expensive is comparing it to small town Midwest.