Cali vs Chicago - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Cali	Chicago
🚶 Cost of living one person	$759	$2799
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1941	$6454
🏠 One person rent	$279	$1702
🏘️ Family rent	$476	$2727
🍽️ Food expenses	$273	$702
🚐 Transport expenses	$121	$204
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$395	$5210
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	19 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	45	100
😀 Quality of life	57	97
🏙️ Population	2.47M	2.75M

The cost of living in Cali is 73% less expensive than in Chicago. Cities ranked 6830th and 394th ($759 vs $2799) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 17th and 338th 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 1.9 months in Chicago. Cali ranked 6th best city to live in Colombia vs Chicago ranked 2nd in the United States, while ranked 6175th and 16th 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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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	$4.9	$19.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.8	$86.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.12	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.4	$7.36
☕ Cappuccino	$2.39	$5.6
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.15	$2.99
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$260	$1993
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$192	$1414
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$481	$3215
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$350	$2313
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$51.4	$108
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$78.2	$168
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$21.7	$64.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.52%	6.77%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1046	$3645
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$838	$2499
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.77	$2.48
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$27.9	$74.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.1	$17
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.05	$1.01
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.35	$1.08
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.49	$4.01
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.28	$4.93
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.52	$5.3
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.93	$14.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.39	$14.3
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.1	$18.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.7	$5.04
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.06	$1.8
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.99	$4.11
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.28	$4.56
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.84	$2.37
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.14	$2.76
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.49	$1.79
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.02	$3.14
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.7	$16.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.14	$2.81
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.8	$16.5
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.13	$12.8
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.28	$7
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.16	$3.84
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.69	$2.14
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$22.9	$68.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.79	$17.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$32.7	$135
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.26	$28.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$66.4	$61.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.2	$94.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$242	$2032
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6322	$23423

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	$693
74 km or 46 mi	Buenaventura	$782
80 km or 50 mi	Tulua	$511
111 km or 69 mi	Popayan	$572
148 km or 92 mi	Neiva	$565
154 km or 96 mi	Armenia	$667
160 km or 100 mi	Cartago	$679
170 km or 105 mi	Salento	$655
178 km or 111 mi	Pereira	$730
184 km or 114 mi	Ibague	$506
213 km or 132 mi	Girardot	$515
214 km or 133 mi	Manizales	$678
227 km or 141 mi	Florencia	$489
251 km or 156 mi	Quibdo	$708
262 km or 163 mi	Pasto	$608
285 km or 177 mi	Facatativa	$722
285 km or 177 mi	Soacha	$848
301 km or 187 mi	Bogota	$976
308 km or 192 mi	Tumaco	$622
316 km or 196 mi	Ipiales	$604
321 km or 200 mi	Envigado	$950
329 km or 204 mi	Medellin	$1030
330 km or 205 mi	Villavicencio	$546
330 km or 205 mi	Zipaquira	$762
339 km or 210 mi	Bello	$881
386 km or 240 mi	Ibarra	$585
421 km or 261 mi	Tunja	$637
446 km or 277 mi	Esmeraldas	$606
463 km or 288 mi	Quito	$882
469 km or 291 mi	Duitama	$960
471 km or 293 mi	Sogamoso	$581
500 km or 311 mi	Barrancabermeja	$1082
504 km or 313 mi	Yopal	$777
506 km or 314 mi	Santo Domingo	$598
518 km or 322 mi	Turbo	$721
554 km or 344 mi	Floridablanca	$686
556 km or 346 mi	Bucaramanga	$693
571 km or 354 mi	Ambato	$542
595 km or 369 mi	Quevedo	$649
596 km or 370 mi	Monteria	$663

Cities near Chicago

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 7 mi	Cicero	$2384
14 km or 8.8 mi	Berwyn	$2360
14 km or 8.9 mi	Oak Park	$2396
16 km or 10 mi	Elmwood Park	$2386
18 km or 11 mi	Maywood	$2367
18 km or 11 mi	Evanston	$2202
19 km or 12 mi	Skokie	$2287
19 km or 12 mi	Burbank	$2393
20 km or 12 mi	Melrose Park	$2385
21 km or 13 mi	Oak Lawn	$2399
22 km or 14 mi	Morton Grove	$2366
22 km or 14 mi	Niles	$2400
23 km or 14 mi	Park Ridge	$2426
23 km or 14 mi	Wilmette	$2288
25 km or 16 mi	Blue Island	$2398
26 km or 16 mi	Elmhurst	$2406
27 km or 17 mi	Glenview	$2405
28 km or 17 mi	Des Plaines	$2549
28 km or 18 mi	Dolton	$2393
29 km or 18 mi	Villa Park	$2413
30 km or 19 mi	Harvey	$2395
30 km or 19 mi	East Chicago	$2030
30 km or 19 mi	Westmont	$2327
31 km or 19 mi	Calumet	$2392
31 km or 20 mi	South Holland	$2379
32 km or 20 mi	Lombard	$2462
32 km or 20 mi	Hammond	$2008
32 km or 20 mi	Oak Forest	$2388
33 km or 20 mi	Northbrook	$2399
33 km or 20 mi	Mount Prospect	$2468
33 km or 20 mi	Darien	$2363
33 km or 21 mi	Elk Grove Village	$2495
34 km or 21 mi	Downers Grove	$2268
35 km or 22 mi	Orland Park	$2392
36 km or 22 mi	Lansing	$2368
36 km or 22 mi	Glen Ellyn	$2261
37 km or 23 mi	Highland Park	$2392
37 km or 23 mi	Munster	$1989
37 km or 23 mi	Tinley Park	$2376
37 km or 23 mi	Wheeling	$2426