Chicago vs Hamilton - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Chicago	Hamilton
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2678	$2017
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6655	$4455
🏠 One person rent	$1596	$1247
🏘️ Family rent	$2946	$2030
🍽️ Food expenses	$700	$542
🚐 Transport expenses	$200	$120
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4876	$2780
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	11 km
🎓 Higher education	100	73
😀 Quality of life	95	88
🏙️ Population	2.75M	569K

The cost of living in Chicago is 33% more expensive than in Hamilton. Cities ranked 529th and 1784th ($2678 vs $2017) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 483rd and 31st in the United States and Canada, respectively. Check the United States vs Canada comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Chicago compared to 1.4 months in Hamilton. Chicago ranked 3rd best city to live in the United States vs Hamilton ranked 18th in Canada, while ranked 23rd and 239th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Chicago vs Hamilton infographic

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Prices in Chicago vs Hamilton

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

	Chicago	Hamilton
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$21.9	$18.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$90.6	$70.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12	$10.5
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7	$5.66
☕ Cappuccino	$5.4	$3.71
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.95	$2
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1841	$1156
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1327	$1072
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3729	$1990
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2474	$1768
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$104	$107
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$159	$166
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$62.1	$51.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.68%	6.79%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3391	$16293
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2689	$4716
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.48	$2.39
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$75.1	$84
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.1	$13.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.06	$1.06
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.94	$2
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.68	$2.04
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.61	$2.58
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.13	$3.08
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.5	$7.74
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.2	$10.4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.3	$13.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.67	$3.58
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.84	$1.23
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.36	$3.38
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.43	$3.63
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.18	$2.54
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.71	$2.06
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.81	$1.27
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.85	$2.1
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.9	$12.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.04	$2.36
🚬 Cigarette pack	$15	$13.4
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.5	$6.97
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.02	$4.22
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.63	$2.42
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.76	$1.58
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$63	$25
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.8	$10.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$127	$44.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$29.8	$16.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$59	$53.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$94.4	$89.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2114	$605
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$24502	$21263

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

Cities near Hamilton

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.9 mi	Burlington	$2185
26 km or 16 mi	Oakville	$2142
32 km or 20 mi	Brantford	$1783
38 km or 23 mi	Cambridge	$2089
42 km or 26 mi	Mississauga	$2370
42 km or 26 mi	Halton Hills	$1966
45 km or 28 mi	Guelph	$1899
48 km or 30 mi	Brampton	$1946
52 km or 32 mi	St. Catharines	$1846
54 km or 34 mi	Kitchener	$2056
57 km or 36 mi	Waterloo	$1977
60 km or 37 mi	Welland	$1554
60 km or 37 mi	Toronto	$2453
67 km or 42 mi	Niagara Falls	$1771
71 km or 44 mi	Vaughan	$2267
71 km or 44 mi	Niagara Falls	$1888
76 km or 47 mi	Orangeville	$1861
78 km or 49 mi	Richmond Hill	$2447
79 km or 49 mi	Grand Island	$2009
85 km or 53 mi	North Tonawanda	$1992
86 km or 53 mi	Markham	$2291
90 km or 56 mi	Stratford	$1680
92 km or 57 mi	Buffalo	$2183
92 km or 57 mi	Amherst	$2013
92 km or 57 mi	New Tecumseth	$2019
95 km or 59 mi	Ajax	$2432
97 km or 60 mi	Lockport	$2021
98 km or 61 mi	West Seneca	$2145
99 km or 62 mi	Cheektowaga	$2107
100 km or 62 mi	Hamburg	$2101
107 km or 67 mi	Orchard Park	$2100
108 km or 67 mi	Lancaster	$2082
108 km or 67 mi	Clarence	$2056
109 km or 68 mi	Oshawa	$1554
116 km or 72 mi	London	$1936
127 km or 79 mi	Erie	$1840
127 km or 79 mi	Barrie	$1849
139 km or 86 mi	Jamestown	$2195
154 km or 96 mi	Orillia	$1910
169 km or 105 mi	Owen Sound	$1799