Albuquerque vs Chicago - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Albuquerque	Chicago
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2029	$2851
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5026	$6527
🏠 One person rent	$1176	$1714
🏘️ Family rent	$2060	$2737
🍽️ Food expenses	$600	$704
🚐 Transport expenses	$92.5	$212
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3981	$5090
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	27	100
😀 Quality of life	83	95
🏙️ Population	565K	2.75M

The cost of living in Albuquerque is 29% less expensive than in Chicago. Cities ranked 1945th and 358th ($2029 vs $2851) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1522nd and 300th in the United States.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in Albuquerque compared to 1.8 months in Chicago. Ranked 168th vs 3rd best cities to live in the United States, and 518th vs 18th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/albuquerque/chicago.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Albuquerque vs Chicago infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/albuquerque/chicago" target="_blank">Albuquerque vs Chicago - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Albuquerque vs Chicago

Prices for goods and services in Albuquerque and Chicago are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Albuquerque	Chicago
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$17	$19.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$66.6	$84.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.9	$12.7
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.95	$7.35
☕ Cappuccino	$5.32	$6.06
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.85	$2.85
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1147	$2011
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$973	$1414
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2103	$3203
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1774	$2316
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$97	$117
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$149	$180
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$70.8	$63.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.15%	6.32%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2503	$3899
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2242	$2568
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.63	$2.51
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$26.2	$82.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.5	$16.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.88	$1.12
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.96	$1.2
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.24	$3.67
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.38	$4.62
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.68	$5.11
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.9	$14.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.34	$14.5
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.3	$19.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.05	$4.78
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$1.86
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.14	$3.96
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.23	$5.01
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.07	$2.39
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$2.63
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.88	$1.79
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.69	$3.71
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.9	$16
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.44	$3.02
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.5	$17.4
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.27	$11.6
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.18	$7.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.78	$4.22
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.9	$2.31
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.1	$74.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.1	$17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$123	$177
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.3	$32.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$54.8	$62.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1503	$1582
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$25284	$27880

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Albuquerque

Distance	City	Cost of living
14 km or 8.5 mi	Rio Rancho	$2089
85 km or 53 mi	Santa Fe	$2212
110 km or 69 mi	Espanola	$2237
170 km or 106 mi	Taos	$2417
197 km or 123 mi	Gallup	$2212
230 km or 143 mi	Farmington	$2470
254 km or 158 mi	Alamogordo	$1747
272 km or 169 mi	Roswell	$1938
311 km or 193 mi	Las Cruces	$1665
321 km or 200 mi	Clovis	$1776
373 km or 232 mi	Carlsbad	$1844
374 km or 232 mi	El Paso	$1796
376 km or 233 mi	Ciudad Juarez	$1066
388 km or 241 mi	Socorro	$1850
393 km or 244 mi	Pueblo	$1961
418 km or 259 mi	Hobbs	$1920
433 km or 269 mi	Fountain	$2367
434 km or 270 mi	Amarillo	$1803
437 km or 272 mi	Security-Widefield	$2423
447 km or 278 mi	Colorado Springs	$2548
456 km or 283 mi	Flagstaff	$2573
460 km or 286 mi	Plainview	$1972
467 km or 290 mi	Lubbock	$1878
472 km or 293 mi	Grand Junction	$2293
491 km or 305 mi	Apache Junction	$2482
496 km or 308 mi	Florence	$2454
498 km or 310 mi	Castle Rock	$2521
498 km or 310 mi	Fountain Hills	$2373
502 km or 312 mi	Agua Prieta	$863
502 km or 312 mi	Oro Valley	$2060
505 km or 314 mi	Queen Creek	$2988
510 km or 317 mi	Casas Adobes	$2011
512 km or 318 mi	Tucson	$1933
513 km or 319 mi	Highlands Ranch	$2605
514 km or 320 mi	Gilbert	$2378
515 km or 320 mi	Mesa	$2293
516 km or 320 mi	Marana	$2089
516 km or 321 mi	Parker	$2534
520 km or 323 mi	Littleton	$2288
520 km or 323 mi	Scottsdale	$2509

Cities near Chicago

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 7 mi	Cicero	$2444
14 km or 8.8 mi	Berwyn	$2399
14 km or 8.9 mi	Oak Park	$2440
16 km or 10 mi	Elmwood Park	$2425
18 km or 11 mi	Maywood	$2423
18 km or 11 mi	Evanston	$2232
19 km or 12 mi	Skokie	$2309
19 km or 12 mi	Burbank	$2454
20 km or 12 mi	Melrose Park	$2430
21 km or 13 mi	Oak Lawn	$2463
22 km or 14 mi	Morton Grove	$2376
22 km or 14 mi	Niles	$2394
23 km or 14 mi	Park Ridge	$2461
23 km or 14 mi	Wilmette	$2323
25 km or 16 mi	Blue Island	$2444
26 km or 16 mi	Elmhurst	$2483
27 km or 17 mi	Glenview	$2436
28 km or 17 mi	Des Plaines	$2569
28 km or 18 mi	Dolton	$2436
29 km or 18 mi	Villa Park	$2508
30 km or 19 mi	Harvey	$2425
30 km or 19 mi	East Chicago	$1751
30 km or 19 mi	Westmont	$2440
31 km or 19 mi	Calumet	$2443
31 km or 20 mi	South Holland	$2439
32 km or 20 mi	Lombard	$2580
32 km or 20 mi	Hammond	$1761
32 km or 20 mi	Oak Forest	$2429
33 km or 20 mi	Northbrook	$2400
33 km or 20 mi	Mount Prospect	$2508
33 km or 20 mi	Darien	$2463
33 km or 21 mi	Elk Grove Village	$2543
34 km or 21 mi	Downers Grove	$2418
35 km or 22 mi	Orland Park	$2438
36 km or 22 mi	Lansing	$2425
36 km or 22 mi	Glen Ellyn	$2406
37 km or 23 mi	Highland Park	$2418
37 km or 23 mi	Munster	$1784
37 km or 23 mi	Tinley Park	$2423
37 km or 23 mi	Wheeling	$2453