Beijing vs Chicago - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Beijing	Chicago
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1016	$2678
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2879	$6655
🏠 One person rent	$575	$1596
🏘️ Family rent	$1275	$2946
🍽️ Food expenses	$245	$700
🚐 Transport expenses	$102	$200
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1443	$4876
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	100	100
😀 Quality of life	75	95
🏙️ Population	21.9M	2.75M

The cost of living in Beijing is 62% less expensive than in Chicago. Cities ranked 5387th and 529th ($1016 vs $2678) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 7th and 483rd in China and the United States, respectively. Check China vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Beijing compared to 1.8 months in Chicago. Beijing ranked 5th best city to live in China vs Chicago ranked 3rd in the United States, while ranked 989th and 23rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Beijing vs Chicago infographic

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Prices in Beijing vs Chicago

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

	Beijing	Chicago
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.86	$21.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.5	$90.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.36	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.22	$7
☕ Cappuccino	$3.58	$5.4
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.46	$2.95
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$819	$1841
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$456	$1327
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1965	$3729
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1021	$2474
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$33.6	$104
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$51.7	$159
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13	$62.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.78%	6.68%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$14717	$3391
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6695	$2689
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.69	$2.48
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32.3	$75.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.77	$16.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.12	$1.06
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.76	$0.94
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.46	$3.68
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$4.61
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.84	$4.13
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$13.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.23	$14.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.64	$18.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.1	$4.67
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.84
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$4.36
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.23	$4.43
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.84	$2.18
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.96	$2.71
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.35	$1.81
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.33	$2.85
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.26	$14.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.83	$3.04
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.43	$15
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.49	$11.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.51	$6.02
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.33	$3.63
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.93	$1.76
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$53.9	$63
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.3	$14.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$33.2	$127
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.62	$29.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$60.8	$59
👟 Brand Sneakers	$76.9	$94.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$698	$2114
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22456	$24502

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Beijing

Distance	City	Cost of living
50 km or 31 mi	Langfang	$716
58 km or 36 mi	Zhuozhou	$729
58 km or 36 mi	Sanhe	$756
78 km or 49 mi	Gaobeidian	$644
87 km or 54 mi	Bazhou	$649
109 km or 68 mi	Tianjin	$687
135 km or 84 mi	Renqiu	$586
137 km or 85 mi	Zunhua	$680
139 km or 87 mi	Baoding	$472
151 km or 94 mi	Binhai	$665
155 km or 97 mi	Tangshan	$702
163 km or 101 mi	Zhangjiakou	$634
164 km or 102 mi	Hejian	$592
176 km or 110 mi	Chengde	$711
182 km or 113 mi	Cangzhou	$679
189 km or 117 mi	Huanghua	$655
189 km or 118 mi	Anguo	$550
196 km or 122 mi	Dingzhou	$584
197 km or 122 mi	Qian'an	$642
198 km or 123 mi	Luanzhou	$635
204 km or 127 mi	Botou	$618
224 km or 139 mi	Shenzhou	$581
228 km or 142 mi	Xinle	$533
229 km or 142 mi	Pingquan	$629
239 km or 148 mi	Jinzhou	$544
241 km or 150 mi	Xinji	$564
249 km or 155 mi	Gaocheng	$524
249 km or 155 mi	Hengshui	$642
252 km or 156 mi	Laoling	$638
263 km or 164 mi	Shijiazhuang	$481
265 km or 165 mi	Datong	$703
272 km or 169 mi	Jizhou	$590
273 km or 169 mi	Qinhuangdao	$664
273 km or 170 mi	Dezhou	$638
281 km or 175 mi	Fengzhen	$616
282 km or 175 mi	Huairen	$624
294 km or 183 mi	Lingyuan	$620
296 km or 184 mi	Nangong	$600
302 km or 187 mi	Ulanqab	$620
314 km or 195 mi	Binzhou	$815

Cities near Chicago

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 7 mi	Cicero	$2425
14 km or 8.8 mi	Berwyn	$2421
14 km or 8.9 mi	Oak Park	$2510
16 km or 10 mi	Elmwood Park	$2426
18 km or 11 mi	Maywood	$2444
18 km or 11 mi	Evanston	$2194
19 km or 12 mi	Skokie	$2256
19 km or 12 mi	Burbank	$2401
20 km or 12 mi	Melrose Park	$2418
21 km or 13 mi	Oak Lawn	$2384
22 km or 14 mi	Morton Grove	$2314
22 km or 14 mi	Niles	$2334
23 km or 14 mi	Park Ridge	$2389
23 km or 14 mi	Wilmette	$2264
25 km or 16 mi	Blue Island	$2377
26 km or 16 mi	Elmhurst	$2392
27 km or 17 mi	Glenview	$2363
28 km or 17 mi	Des Plaines	$2509
28 km or 18 mi	Dolton	$2359
29 km or 18 mi	Villa Park	$2393
30 km or 19 mi	Harvey	$2360
30 km or 19 mi	East Chicago	$1938
30 km or 19 mi	Westmont	$2362
31 km or 19 mi	Calumet	$2363
31 km or 20 mi	South Holland	$2344
32 km or 20 mi	Lombard	$2396
32 km or 20 mi	Hammond	$1948
32 km or 20 mi	Oak Forest	$2350
33 km or 20 mi	Northbrook	$2378
33 km or 20 mi	Mount Prospect	$2446
33 km or 20 mi	Darien	$2369
33 km or 21 mi	Elk Grove Village	$2506
34 km or 21 mi	Downers Grove	$2342
35 km or 22 mi	Orland Park	$2367
36 km or 22 mi	Lansing	$2342
36 km or 22 mi	Glen Ellyn	$2227
37 km or 23 mi	Highland Park	$2345
37 km or 23 mi	Munster	$1954
37 km or 23 mi	Tinley Park	$2351
37 km or 23 mi	Wheeling	$2371