Chicago vs Hamilton - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Chicago	Hamilton
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2799	$2103
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6454	$4578
🏠 One person rent	$1702	$1304
🏘️ Family rent	$2727	$2079
🍽️ Food expenses	$702	$562
🚐 Transport expenses	$204	$123
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5210	$2679
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	11 km
🎓 Higher education	100	73
😀 Quality of life	97	91
🏙️ Population	2.75M	569K

The cost of living in Chicago is 33% more expensive than in Hamilton. Cities ranked 394th and 1725th ($2799 vs $2103) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 338th and 23rd 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 1.9 months in Chicago compared to 1.3 months in Hamilton. Chicago ranked 2nd best city to live in the United States vs Hamilton ranked 17th in Canada, while ranked 16th and 176th 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	$19.2	$19
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$86.5	$71
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12	$10.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.36	$5.7
☕ Cappuccino	$5.6	$4.08
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.99	$2.1
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1993	$1167
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1414	$1163
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3215	$1899
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2313	$1884
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$108	$90.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$168	$141
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$64.8	$50
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.77%	5.85%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3645	$12302
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2499	$4675
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.48	$2.5
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$74.8	$86
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$17	$13.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.01	$1.06
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.08	$2.11
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.01	$2.02
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.93	$2.82
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.3	$3.16
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.4	$7.38
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.3	$12
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.8	$13.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.04	$3.67
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.8	$1.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.11	$3.53
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.56	$3.83
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.37	$2.57
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.76	$1.69
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.79	$0.98
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.14	$2.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.7	$12.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.81	$2.32
🚬 Cigarette pack	$16.5	$12.8
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$12.8	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7	$4.63
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.84	$2.24
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.14	$1.5
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$68.2	$37.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17.1	$10.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$135	$45.6
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.7	$16.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$61.8	$54.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$94.8	$95.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2032	$618
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$23423	$19470

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	$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

Cities near Hamilton

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.9 mi	Burlington	$2193
26 km or 16 mi	Oakville	$2379
32 km or 20 mi	Brantford	$1844
38 km or 23 mi	Cambridge	$2010
42 km or 26 mi	Mississauga	$2326
42 km or 26 mi	Halton Hills	$2012
45 km or 28 mi	Guelph	$1998
48 km or 30 mi	Brampton	$2033
52 km or 32 mi	St. Catharines	$2038
54 km or 34 mi	Kitchener	$2071
57 km or 36 mi	Waterloo	$1928
60 km or 37 mi	Welland	$1705
60 km or 37 mi	Toronto	$2464
67 km or 42 mi	Niagara Falls	$1894
71 km or 44 mi	Vaughan	$2241
71 km or 44 mi	Niagara Falls	$1947
76 km or 47 mi	Orangeville	$1869
78 km or 49 mi	Richmond Hill	$2463
79 km or 49 mi	Grand Island	$2049
85 km or 53 mi	North Tonawanda	$2045
86 km or 53 mi	Markham	$2242
90 km or 56 mi	Stratford	$1683
92 km or 57 mi	Buffalo	$2187
92 km or 57 mi	Amherst	$2096
92 km or 57 mi	New Tecumseth	$1995
95 km or 59 mi	Ajax	$2449
97 km or 60 mi	Lockport	$2044
98 km or 61 mi	West Seneca	$2109
99 km or 62 mi	Cheektowaga	$2124
100 km or 62 mi	Hamburg	$1868
107 km or 67 mi	Orchard Park	$2021
108 km or 67 mi	Lancaster	$2083
108 km or 67 mi	Clarence	$2082
109 km or 68 mi	Oshawa	$1564
116 km or 72 mi	London	$1931
127 km or 79 mi	Erie	$1925
127 km or 79 mi	Barrie	$1443
139 km or 86 mi	Jamestown	$2180
154 km or 96 mi	Orillia	$1936
169 km or 105 mi	Owen Sound	$1659