Berlin vs Chicago - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Berlin	Chicago
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2302	$2822
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5175	$6502
🏠 One person rent	$1280	$1695
🏘️ Family rent	$2205	$2718
🍽️ Food expenses	$553	$730
🚐 Transport expenses	$315	$192
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3706	$5026
😷 Air quality	Good	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	19 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	100	100
😀 Quality of life	95	95
🏙️ Population	3.78M	2.75M

The cost of living in Berlin is 18% less expensive than in Chicago. Cities ranked 1275th and 375th ($2302 vs $2822) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 311th in Germany and the United States, respectively. Check Germany vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Berlin compared to 1.8 months in Chicago. Berlin ranked 7th best city to live in Germany vs Chicago ranked 3rd in the United States, while ranked 35th and 22nd among 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/berlin/chicago.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Berlin vs Chicago infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/berlin/chicago" target="_blank">Berlin vs Chicago - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Berlin vs Chicago

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

	Berlin	Chicago
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16	$19.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$65.2	$99.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.1	$13.5
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.17	$6.93
☕ Cappuccino	$4.72	$5.6
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.77	$3.05
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1324	$2002
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$952	$1406
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2341	$3205
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1711	$2314
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$208	$101
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$321	$157
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$46.4	$68
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.51%	6.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8913	$3759
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6080	$2521
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$4.45	$2.5
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$69.8	$75.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$29.9	$14.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.99	$0.99
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.37	$1.24
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.08	$4.16
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.94	$5.38
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.14	$5.59
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.6	$14.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.6	$14.8
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.6	$17.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.49	$5.36
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.07	$1.81
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.85	$3.9
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.62	$4.44
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$2.56
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.78	$2.56
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.69	$1.8
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.06	$3.62
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.38	$15.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.33	$3.03
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.1	$16.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.5	$11.6
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.95	$7.06
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.69	$4.23
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.17	$2.21
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$35.2	$69.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.8	$16.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$68.6	$154
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.1	$33
👖 Brand Jeans	$97.9	$60.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$99.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$135	$1863
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10963	$24172

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Berlin

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Teltow	$1931
18 km or 11 mi	Hohen Neuendorf	$1930
18 km or 11 mi	Hennigsdorf	$1921
20 km or 13 mi	Falkensee	$1905
21 km or 13 mi	Bernau bei Berlin	$1940
25 km or 16 mi	Potsdam	$1940
25 km or 16 mi	Ludwigsfelde	$1889
28 km or 18 mi	Oranienburg	$1920
30 km or 19 mi	Konigs Wusterhausen	$1896
34 km or 21 mi	Werder	$1870
34 km or 21 mi	Strausberg	$1895
46 km or 29 mi	Eberswalde	$1878
49 km or 31 mi	Furstenwalde	$1816
50 km or 31 mi	Luckenwalde	$1853
57 km or 36 mi	Brandenburg an der Havel	$1859
60 km or 37 mi	Neuruppin	$1846
72 km or 44 mi	Rathenow	$1846
81 km or 50 mi	Frankfurt	$1698
86 km or 53 mi	Schwedt	$1857
88 km or 55 mi	Wittenberg	$1460
97 km or 60 mi	Neustrelitz	$1557
97 km or 60 mi	Eisenhuttenstadt	$1587
104 km or 65 mi	Stendal	$1493
106 km or 66 mi	Cottbus	$1382
107 km or 67 mi	Burg bei Magdeburg	$1483
107 km or 67 mi	Zerbst	$1490
109 km or 68 mi	Dessau-Rolau	$1489
109 km or 68 mi	Torgau	$1488
116 km or 72 mi	Neubrandenburg	$1597
119 km or 74 mi	Senftenberg	$1502
121 km or 75 mi	Waren	$1543
124 km or 77 mi	Bitterfeld-Wolfen	$1457
124 km or 77 mi	Schonebeck	$1481
125 km or 78 mi	Spremberg	$1464
127 km or 79 mi	Magdeburg	$1473
128 km or 79 mi	Szczecin	$1240
128 km or 80 mi	Kothen	$1467
128 km or 80 mi	Gorzow Wielkopolski	$1121
131 km or 81 mi	Delitzsch	$1553
134 km or 83 mi	Hoyerswerda	$1474

Cities near Chicago

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 7 mi	Cicero	$2429
14 km or 8.8 mi	Berwyn	$2374
14 km or 8.9 mi	Oak Park	$2432
16 km or 10 mi	Elmwood Park	$2406
18 km or 11 mi	Maywood	$2396
18 km or 11 mi	Evanston	$2202
19 km or 12 mi	Skokie	$2300
19 km or 12 mi	Burbank	$2449
20 km or 12 mi	Melrose Park	$2418
21 km or 13 mi	Oak Lawn	$2443
22 km or 14 mi	Morton Grove	$2381
22 km or 14 mi	Niles	$2408
23 km or 14 mi	Park Ridge	$2466
23 km or 14 mi	Wilmette	$2295
25 km or 16 mi	Blue Island	$2439
26 km or 16 mi	Elmhurst	$2454
27 km or 17 mi	Glenview	$2433
28 km or 17 mi	Des Plaines	$2521
28 km or 18 mi	Dolton	$2438
29 km or 18 mi	Villa Park	$2475
30 km or 19 mi	Harvey	$2434
30 km or 19 mi	East Chicago	$1906
30 km or 19 mi	Westmont	$2411
31 km or 19 mi	Calumet	$2440
31 km or 20 mi	South Holland	$2425
32 km or 20 mi	Lombard	$2503
32 km or 20 mi	Hammond	$1889
32 km or 20 mi	Oak Forest	$2438
33 km or 20 mi	Northbrook	$2415
33 km or 20 mi	Mount Prospect	$2477
33 km or 20 mi	Darien	$2434
33 km or 21 mi	Elk Grove Village	$2525
34 km or 21 mi	Downers Grove	$2354
35 km or 22 mi	Orland Park	$2421
36 km or 22 mi	Lansing	$2412
36 km or 22 mi	Glen Ellyn	$2311
37 km or 23 mi	Highland Park	$2398
37 km or 23 mi	Munster	$1862
37 km or 23 mi	Tinley Park	$2425
37 km or 23 mi	Wheeling	$2434