Canberra vs Chicago - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Canberra	Chicago
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2223	$2822
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4990	$6502
🏠 One person rent	$1398	$1695
🏘️ Family rent	$2158	$2718
🍽️ Food expenses	$563	$730
🚐 Transport expenses	$119	$192
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4087	$5026
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	30	100
😀 Quality of life	85	95
🏙️ Population	381K	2.75M

The cost of living in Canberra is 21% less expensive than in Chicago. Cities ranked 1443rd and 375th ($2223 vs $2822) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 12th and 311th in Australia and the United States, respectively. Check Australia vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Canberra compared to 1.8 months in Chicago. Canberra ranked 13th best city to live in Australia vs Chicago ranked 3rd in the United States, while ranked 479th and 22nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Canberra vs Chicago

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

	Canberra	Chicago
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.5	$19.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$69.1	$99.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.5	$13.5
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.54	$6.93
☕ Cappuccino	$3.66	$5.6
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.98	$3.05
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1538	$2002
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1150	$1406
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2721	$3205
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1726	$2314
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$119	$101
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$182	$157
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.8	$68
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.89%	6.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8609	$3759
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5425	$2521
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.53	$2.5
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$88.3	$75.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.6	$14.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$0.99
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.4	$1.24
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.62	$4.16
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.99	$5.38
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.14	$5.59
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.7	$14.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.61	$14.8
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.4	$17.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.69	$5.36
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.44	$1.81
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.47	$3.9
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.44	$4.44
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$2.56
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$2.56
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.89	$1.8
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.28	$3.62
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.4	$15.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.86	$3.03
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.9	$16.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.98	$11.6
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.81	$7.06
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.5	$4.23
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.08	$2.21
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$57.5	$69.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.3	$16.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$52.8	$154
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.2	$33
👖 Brand Jeans	$79.1	$60.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$112	$99.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2023	$1863
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15408	$24172

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Canberra

Distance	City	Cost of living
81 km or 50 mi	Goulburn	$1821
161 km or 100 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1583
187 km or 116 mi	Wollongong	$1695
212 km or 132 mi	Bathurst	$1699
223 km or 139 mi	Orange	$1477
235 km or 146 mi	Blacktown	$1710
238 km or 148 mi	Parramatta	$2482
243 km or 151 mi	Kellyville	$2050
247 km or 154 mi	Sydney	$2844
261 km or 162 mi	Dee Why	$2379
303 km or 188 mi	Griffith	$1824
341 km or 212 mi	Dubbo	$1867
357 km or 222 mi	Shepparton	$1815
358 km or 222 mi	Newcastle	$1997
397 km or 246 mi	Traralgon	$1979
448 km or 278 mi	Pakenham	$1896
454 km or 282 mi	Berwick	$1860
459 km or 285 mi	Dandenong	$1894
464 km or 288 mi	Cranbourne	$1798
466 km or 289 mi	South Yarra	$1829
466 km or 290 mi	Bendigo	$1487
466 km or 290 mi	Melbourne	$2496
470 km or 292 mi	Sunbury	$1928
477 km or 297 mi	Frankston	$1889
485 km or 302 mi	Melton	$1906
488 km or 303 mi	Tarneit	$1822
489 km or 304 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1854
531 km or 330 mi	Geelong	$2217
535 km or 332 mi	Ballarat	$1604
554 km or 344 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
583 km or 362 mi	Armidale	$1288
649 km or 403 mi	Mildura	$1904
669 km or 415 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2172
684 km or 425 mi	Warrnambool	$1870
698 km or 434 mi	Devonport	$1898
706 km or 438 mi	Launceston	$1753
796 km or 495 mi	Mount Gambier	$1901
852 km or 529 mi	Byron Bay	$2703
858 km or 533 mi	Hobart	$2308
902 km or 560 mi	Toowoomba	$1766

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