Calgary vs Chicago - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 01, 2024

	Calgary	Chicago
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2113	$2613
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4833	$6659
🏠 One person rent	$1211	$1594
🏘️ Family rent	$1953	$3123
🍽️ Food expenses	$578	$649
🚐 Transport expenses	$189	$210
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3532	$5285
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	8 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	53	100
😀 Quality of life	92	96
🏙️ Population	1.31M	2.75M

The cost of living in Calgary is 19% less expensive than in Chicago. Cities ranked 1526th and 505th ($2113 vs $2613) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 32nd and 455th in Canada and the United States, respectively. Check Canada vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Calgary compared to 2 months in Chicago. Calgary ranked 6th best city to live in Canada vs Chicago ranked 2nd in the United States, while ranked 66th and 16th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Calgary vs Chicago infographic

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Prices in Calgary vs Chicago

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

	Calgary	Chicago
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16	$17.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$64	$80.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.3	$10.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.56	$6.98
☕ Cappuccino	$3.87	$5.12
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.12	$2.87
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1165	$1958
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$944	$1297
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1993	$3908
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1559	$2652
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$156	$103
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$241	$158
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$66.7	$61.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.41%	6.64%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3410	$3227
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3182	$2803
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.69	$2.52
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$82.1	$87.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$20.3	$15.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.22	$1.1
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.15	$1.04
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.46	$3.79
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.43	$4.74
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.83	$3.8
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.6	$14.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13	$12.5
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.5	$19.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.31	$5.27
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$1.94
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.05	$5.02
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.22	$4.53
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$2.42
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.34	$2.8
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.19	$1.53
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.41	$2.9
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15	$15.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.76	$2.65
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.5	$15.7
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.57	$9.23
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.91	$5.71
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.19	$3.85
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.52	$1.94
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$56.1	$73.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$12.9	$14.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$66.2	$78.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$20	$28.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$62.9	$61.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$87.8	$99.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$904	$2675
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$21983	$15494

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Calgary

Distance	City	Cost of living
106 km or 66 mi	Banff	$1860
137 km or 85 mi	Red Deer	$1688
174 km or 108 mi	Lethbridge	$1675
248 km or 154 mi	Leduc	$1694
265 km or 165 mi	Medicine Hat	$1510
278 km or 173 mi	Spruce Grove	$1711
279 km or 173 mi	Edmonton	$1732
357 km or 222 mi	Sandpoint	$2798
402 km or 250 mi	Kelowna	$1696
422 km or 262 mi	Coeur d'Alene	$2269
426 km or 265 mi	Post Falls	$2276
429 km or 266 mi	Penticton	$1718
440 km or 273 mi	Spokane Valley	$2061
442 km or 275 mi	Kamloops	$1835
443 km or 275 mi	Great Falls	$2484
452 km or 281 mi	Spokane	$2022
466 km or 289 mi	Missoula	$1795
517 km or 322 mi	Helena	$2023
524 km or 325 mi	Saskatoon	$1858
526 km or 327 mi	Moscow	$1526
531 km or 330 mi	Pullman	$1568
556 km or 345 mi	Grande Prairie	$1789
560 km or 348 mi	Lewiston	$1731
572 km or 355 mi	Butte	$1585
579 km or 360 mi	Moses Lake	$1908
600 km or 373 mi	Chilliwack	$1760
603 km or 375 mi	Moose Jaw	$1613
607 km or 377 mi	Wenatchee	$2358
616 km or 382 mi	Prince Albert	$1629
630 km or 391 mi	Abbotsford	$1990
636 km or 395 mi	Whistler	$2445
637 km or 396 mi	Walla Walla	$2064
638 km or 396 mi	Bozeman	$2269
641 km or 398 mi	Maple Ridge	$2218
650 km or 404 mi	Langley	$2034
650 km or 404 mi	Pasco	$2098
651 km or 405 mi	Coquitlam	$2595
654 km or 406 mi	Bellingham	$2251
654 km or 406 mi	Richland	$1896
655 km or 407 mi	Fort McMurray	$1722

Cities near Chicago

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 7 mi	Cicero	$2476
14 km or 8.8 mi	Berwyn	$2544
14 km or 8.9 mi	Oak Park	$2446
16 km or 10 mi	Elmwood Park	$2346
18 km or 11 mi	Maywood	$2387
18 km or 11 mi	Evanston	$2199
19 km or 12 mi	Skokie	$2257
19 km or 12 mi	Burbank	$2326
20 km or 12 mi	Melrose Park	$2317
21 km or 13 mi	Oak Lawn	$2300
22 km or 14 mi	Morton Grove	$2290
22 km or 14 mi	Niles	$2323
23 km or 14 mi	Park Ridge	$2295
23 km or 14 mi	Wilmette	$2245
25 km or 16 mi	Blue Island	$2282
26 km or 16 mi	Elmhurst	$2244
27 km or 17 mi	Glenview	$2264
28 km or 17 mi	Des Plaines	$2215
28 km or 18 mi	Dolton	$2264
29 km or 18 mi	Villa Park	$2204
30 km or 19 mi	Harvey	$2258
30 km or 19 mi	East Chicago	$2013
30 km or 19 mi	Westmont	$2248
31 km or 19 mi	Calumet	$2258
31 km or 20 mi	South Holland	$2240
32 km or 20 mi	Lombard	$2162
32 km or 20 mi	Hammond	$2030
32 km or 20 mi	Oak Forest	$2257
33 km or 20 mi	Northbrook	$2253
33 km or 20 mi	Mount Prospect	$2269
33 km or 20 mi	Darien	$2250
33 km or 21 mi	Elk Grove Village	$2267
34 km or 21 mi	Downers Grove	$2264
35 km or 22 mi	Orland Park	$2238
36 km or 22 mi	Lansing	$2239
36 km or 22 mi	Glen Ellyn	$2089
37 km or 23 mi	Highland Park	$2221
37 km or 23 mi	Munster	$2038
37 km or 23 mi	Tinley Park	$2241
37 km or 23 mi	Wheeling	$2240