Cost of living in Chicago, IL
The Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area (9,406,924 people) ranks #31 of 149 for prices among the U.S. metro areas we cover. Here's what it costs to live there.
Hover over or tap a dot to see its value.
See all 149 cities
Price level, from cheaper to pricier.
- The Villages, FL 85.4
- McAllen, TX 85.9
- Springfield, MO 88.6
- Wichita, KS 88.9
- Jackson, MS 89.0
- Tulsa, OK 89.2
- Columbus, GA 89.3
- Little Rock, AR 89.4
- El Paso, TX 89.9
- Oklahoma City, OK 90.4
- Sioux Falls, SD 90.6
- Baton Rouge, LA 90.8
- Clarksville, TN 90.9
- Fargo, ND 90.9
- Killeen, TX 91.1
- Spartanburg, SC 91.1
- Fayetteville, AR 91.4
- Chattanooga, TN 91.5
- Toledo, OH 91.5
- Birmingham, AL 91.6
- Des Moines, IA 91.7
- Augusta, GA 91.9
- Omaha, NE 91.9
- Fayetteville, NC 92.0
- Winston-Salem, NC 92.0
- Jacksonville, NC 92.1
- Memphis, TN 92.2
- Kansas City, MO 92.5
- Fort Wayne, IN 92.6
- Knoxville, TN 92.6
- New Orleans, LA 92.6
- Dayton, OH 92.7
- Greensboro, NC 92.9
- Lexington, KY 92.9
- Huntsville, AL 93.1
- Louisville, KY 93.1
- Greenville, SC 93.3
- Akron, OH 93.4
- Billings, MT 93.5
- Myrtle Beach, SC 93.6
- Columbia, SC 93.7
- Cleveland, OH 93.9
- Daphne, AL 94.7
- Pittsburgh, PA 94.7
- San Antonio, TX 94.7
- St. Louis, MO 95.1
- Ocala, FL 95.2
- Savannah, GA 95.2
- Cincinnati, OH 95.4
- Albuquerque, NM 95.5
- Columbus, OH 95.5
- Grand Rapids, MI 95.5
- Indianapolis, IN 95.7
- Syracuse, NY 95.7
- Buffalo, NY 95.8
- Nashville, TN 96.3
- Wilmington, NC 96.4
- Asheville, NC 96.5
- Cheyenne, WY 96.5
- Gainesville, FL 96.7
- Milwaukee, WI 96.9
- Tucson, AZ 96.9
- Crestview, FL 97.0
- Rochester, NY 97.0
- Lakeland, FL 97.1
- Charlotte, NC 97.3
- Madison, WI 97.3
- Panama City, FL 97.3
- Durham, NC 97.6
- Pensacola, FL 97.7
- Richmond, VA 97.9
- Virginia Beach, VA 97.9
- Hilton Head Island, SC 98.0
- Austin, TX 98.1
- Provo, UT 98.2
- Raleigh, NC 98.2
- Prescott, AZ 98.3
- Boise, ID 98.4
- Houston, TX 98.6
- Harrisburg, PA 98.7
- Daytona Beach, FL 99.4
- Jacksonville, FL 99.5
- Albany, NY 99.6
- Allentown, PA 100.0
- Palm Bay, FL 100.0
- Atlanta, GA 100.1
- Greeley, CO 100.2
- Las Vegas, NV 100.2
- Port St. Lucie, FL 100.2
- Detroit, MI 100.3
- Ogden, UT 100.3
- Spokane, WA 100.3
- Norwich, CT 100.4
- Punta Gorda, FL 100.5
- Colorado Springs, CO 100.7
- Ann Arbor, MI 100.9
- Bakersfield, CA 100.9
- Burlington, VT 100.9
- Salt Lake City, UT 100.9
- Tampa, FL 100.9
- Charleston, SC 101.0
- Reno, NV 101.0
- Fort Collins, CO 101.1
- Orlando, FL 101.4
- Eugene, OR 101.6
- Providence, RI 101.8
- Portland, ME 101.9
- Fresno, CA 102.2
- Cape Coral, FL 102.3
- Sarasota, FL 102.4
- Worcester, MA 102.5
- Philadelphia, PA 102.6
- Hartford, CT 102.7
- Dallas, TX 103.1
- Naples, FL 103.2
- Trenton, NJ 103.2
- Phoenix, AZ 103.3
- Bend, OR 103.6
- Chicago, IL 103.6
- Olympia, WA 103.7
- Baltimore, MD 104.5
- New Haven, CT 104.6
- Minneapolis, MN 104.8
- Stockton, CA 105.1
- Boulder, CO 105.2
- Anchorage, AK 105.4
- Portland, OR 105.4
- Bremerton, WA 105.6
- Manchester, NH 105.7
- Denver, CO 105.8
- Riverside, CA 106.4
- Sacramento, CA 106.7
- Bridgeport, CT 106.9
- Santa Rosa, CA 107.8
- Boston, MA 108.3
- Vallejo, CA 108.5
- Santa Barbara, CA 108.8
- Washington, D.C. 108.9
- Salinas, CA 109.0
- Poughkeepsie, NY 109.4
- San Jose, CA 110.4
- Oxnard, CA 110.5
- Honolulu, HI 111.0
- Seattle, WA 111.1
- San Diego, CA 111.9
- New York, NY 112.6
- Los Angeles, CA 113.6
- Miami, FL 114.2
- San Francisco, CA 115.6
Compare Chicago with your city
See what you'd need to earn in Chicago to keep your lifestyle, after taxes and local prices. The calculator starts from New York, NY, which sends the most households here of the metros we cover (IRS, 2022–2023), using its median household income as an illustrative single-earner salary. Household income can include several earners and other income; it is not a typical individual wage. Pick your own city, salary and filing status.
Equal salary in Chicago: $85,400
Compare any two of 149 U.S. metro areas. All cities
To keep the same lifestyle, you need about $85,400 in Chicago, IL to match $100,000 in New York, NY ($14,600 less), after 2026 taxes and local prices.
Single filer, W-2 salary. Uses New York and Illinois state income tax; includes New York City resident tax $3,441 (inside city limits).
Prices and housing cover the metro area; taxes use New York and Illinois, their principal states. A metro can span several states; living in its other state can change the tax result.
What things cost in Chicago
The vertical line marks the U.S. average (100). BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 for the metropolitan area.
Taxes in Chicago
In this fixed example, one single filer earning a $90,000 W-2 salary keeps $67,835 after 2026 federal tax ($10,970), Social Security and Medicare ($6,885) and Illinois income tax ($4,310). The salary is rounded from median household income, not an observed individual wage. This example stays fixed when you change the calculator.
Prices and housing cover the full Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area; the tax example uses its principal state, Illinois. A home in another state within the metro can have different taxes.
Housing
| Measure | Chicago area |
|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,469/mo |
| Median home value | $339,700 |
| Median property tax | $6,461/yr |
| Monthly cost to own the median home (20% down) | $2,506 |
| Median household income | $90,770 |
Climate and jobs in Chicago
In the Chicago area the average January low is 19°F and the average July high 85°F, and the area has about 17 days a year at 90°F or hotter. Unemployment averaged 4.7% in 2025, above the U.S. rate (4.3%), and the median wage across all jobs was $54,720 a year, 7% above the U.S. median.
| Climate | 1991–2020 average |
|---|---|
| January low | 19°F |
| July high | 85°F |
| Days 90°F or hotter | 17 a year |
| Precipitation | 38 in a year |
| Snowfall | 38 in a year |
| Jobs and pay | Metro area | U.S. |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate, 2025 average | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Median wage, all jobs (May 2025) | $54,720 | $50,980 |
| Wage and salary jobs (May 2025) | 4.5 million | 155.5 million |
Climate: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020 averages at the Chicago O'Hare International Airport station (USW00094846). Weather varies across a metro area, especially with elevation and distance from the coast. Jobs: unemployment from BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics; wages and job counts from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, which count wage and salary jobs, not the self-employed; wages are before taxes. The 2025 average covers 11 months: October 2025 data were not collected during the federal government shutdown.
Retiring in Chicago
Our modeled retiree budget is about $3,523 a month here with a home owned outright, or $3,961 renting. It uses spending benchmarks for households with a reference person age 65 or older (BLS 2024), adjusted for local prices. These are household-based estimates, not observed spending by a single retiree in Chicago. See where your budget goes furthest.
Where people move to and from Chicago
- Chicago to New York
- Chicago to Phoenix
- Chicago to Dallas
- Chicago to Los Angeles
- Chicago to Milwaukee
- Chicago to Miami
- Chicago to Indianapolis
- Chicago to Denver
- New York to Chicago
- Los Angeles to Chicago
- Phoenix to Chicago
- Detroit to Chicago
- Dallas to Chicago
- Milwaukee to Chicago
- Indianapolis to Chicago
- Washington, D.C. to Chicago
IRS county-to-county migration data, 2022–2023, aggregated to the 149 metro areas we cover.
Natural hazard risk
RelocateMath's population-weighted mean of FEMA county risk scores for the Chicago area is 97.1 of 100 (very high county-score mean), with modeled expected losses of about $443 per resident per year. A mean of county percentiles is not an official FEMA metro rating or a national metro percentile. It describes the counties in the metro; your property's risk can differ. Disaster risk by county in Illinois.
The vertical line marks county-score scale midpoint (50).
Frequently asked questions
What salary do you need to live in Chicago?
In a fixed single-filer W-2 example living inside the principal city, about $83,800 in Chicago matches the buying power of $75,000 in an average-priced area with no state income tax. The example uses 2026 federal taxes, Illinois state taxes and modeled resident local taxes where applicable. It stays fixed when calculator inputs change. Renting the median home at 30% of income takes $58,760, and buying the median home with 20% down takes about $107,402.
Is Chicago expensive?
The Chicago metro area's price level is 103.6 (U.S. = 100), #31 of the 149 metro areas we cover, from most to least expensive. Its housing rents price index is 112.0, 12% above the U.S. average.
Are people moving to Chicago?
Counting moves to and from the other 148 metro areas we cover, Chicago had a net loss of about 13,436 households in 2022–2023 (IRS county migration data).
What is the weather like in Chicago?
In NOAA's 1991–2020 climate normals for the Chicago area (Chicago O'Hare International Airport weather station), the average January low is 19°F and the average July high 85°F. The area has about 17 days a year at 90°F or hotter and gets 38 inches of precipitation a year and about 38 inches of snow.
What are jobs and pay like in Chicago?
The Chicago metro area's unemployment rate averaged 4.7% in 2025, above the U.S. rate (4.3%). The median wage across all jobs was $54,720 a year in May 2025, 7% above the U.S. median of $50,980 (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
What natural disasters affect Chicago?
RelocateMath's population-weighted mean of FEMA county risk scores is 97.1 out of 100 (very high county-score mean). This is not an official FEMA metro rating or a national metro percentile. The highest county-score means by hazard are cold wave, tornado, riverine flooding.
Compare Chicago with other cities
Moving from Chicago to…
- Atlanta, GA
- Austin, TX
- Boston, MA
- Cape Coral, FL
- Dallas, TX
- Denver, CO
- Detroit, MI
- Houston, TX
- Indianapolis, IN
- Las Vegas, NV
- Los Angeles, CA
- Madison, WI
- Miami, FL
- Milwaukee, WI
- Minneapolis, MN
- Nashville, TN
- New York, NY
- Orlando, FL
- Phoenix, AZ
- San Diego, CA
- San Francisco, CA
- Seattle, WA
- St. Louis, MO
- Tampa, FL
- Washington, D.C.
Cities with similar prices
- Bend, OR 103.6
- Olympia, WA 103.7
- Phoenix, AZ 103.3
- Naples, FL 103.2
- Trenton, NJ 103.2
- Dallas, TX 103.1
- Moving from Illinois
State-agency links identify the responsible tax office; they do not verify every modeled rule. Use forms and guidance for the year you are filing.