Cali vs Chicago - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Cali	Chicago
🚶 Cost of living one person	$748	$2678
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1926	$6655
🏠 One person rent	$287	$1596
🏘️ Family rent	$513	$2946
🍽️ Food expenses	$269	$700
🚐 Transport expenses	$112	$200
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$394	$4876
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	19 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	45	100
😀 Quality of life	50	95
🏙️ Population	2.47M	2.75M

The cost of living in Cali is 72% less expensive than in Chicago. Cities ranked 6679th and 529th ($748 vs $2678) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 12th and 483rd in Colombia and the United States, respectively. Check Colombia vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Cali compared to 1.8 months in Chicago. Cali ranked 4th best city to live in Colombia vs Chicago ranked 3rd in the United States, while ranked 6204th and 23rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Cali vs Chicago infographic

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

Prices in Cali vs Chicago

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

	Cali	Chicago
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.3	$21.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$25.1	$90.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.18	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.33	$7
☕ Cappuccino	$2.24	$5.4
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.9	$2.95
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$264	$1841
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$203	$1327
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$536	$3729
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$384	$2474
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$50	$104
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$76.8	$159
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$21.6	$62.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	13.11%	6.68%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$992	$3391
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$798	$2689
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.65	$2.48
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$26.2	$75.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$13	$16.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.96	$1.06
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.33	$0.94
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.61	$3.68
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.3	$4.61
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.74	$4.13
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.14	$13.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.55	$14.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.38	$18.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.7	$4.67
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.92	$1.84
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.27	$4.36
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.2	$4.43
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.98	$2.18
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$2.71
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.55	$1.81
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.85	$2.85
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.9	$14.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.06	$3.04
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.39	$15
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.8	$11.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.13	$6.02
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.02	$3.63
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.1	$1.76
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$22.6	$63
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.78	$14.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29	$127
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.36	$29.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$55.7	$59
👟 Brand Sneakers	$97.7	$94.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$263	$2114
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6351	$24502

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Cali

Distance	City	Cost of living
27 km or 17 mi	Palmira	$666
74 km or 46 mi	Buenaventura	$742
80 km or 50 mi	Tulua	$513
111 km or 69 mi	Popayan	$477
148 km or 92 mi	Neiva	$557
154 km or 96 mi	Armenia	$598
160 km or 100 mi	Cartago	$649
170 km or 105 mi	Salento	$605
178 km or 111 mi	Pereira	$680
184 km or 114 mi	Ibague	$529
213 km or 132 mi	Girardot	$493
214 km or 133 mi	Manizales	$653
227 km or 141 mi	Florencia	$410
251 km or 156 mi	Quibdo	$705
262 km or 163 mi	Pasto	$514
285 km or 177 mi	Facatativa	$674
285 km or 177 mi	Soacha	$794
301 km or 187 mi	Bogota	$887
308 km or 192 mi	Tumaco	$571
316 km or 196 mi	Ipiales	$531
321 km or 200 mi	Envigado	$897
329 km or 204 mi	Medellin	$906
330 km or 205 mi	Villavicencio	$497
330 km or 205 mi	Zipaquira	$709
339 km or 210 mi	Bello	$839
386 km or 240 mi	Ibarra	$519
421 km or 261 mi	Tunja	$563
446 km or 277 mi	Esmeraldas	$610
463 km or 288 mi	Quito	$884
469 km or 291 mi	Duitama	$882
471 km or 293 mi	Sogamoso	$534
500 km or 311 mi	Barrancabermeja	$1031
504 km or 313 mi	Yopal	$722
506 km or 314 mi	Santo Domingo	$532
518 km or 322 mi	Turbo	$664
554 km or 344 mi	Floridablanca	$648
556 km or 346 mi	Bucaramanga	$657
571 km or 354 mi	Ambato	$573
595 km or 369 mi	Quevedo	$651
596 km or 370 mi	Monteria	$645

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