Chicago vs Louisville - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Chicago	Louisville
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2678	$1821
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6655	$4500
🏠 One person rent	$1596	$1051
🏘️ Family rent	$2946	$1950
🍽️ Food expenses	$700	$556
🚐 Transport expenses	$200	$69.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4876	$3986
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	100	60
😀 Quality of life	95	87
🏙️ Population	2.75M	246K

The cost of living in Chicago is 47% more expensive than in Louisville. Cities ranked 529th and 2336th ($2678 vs $1821) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 483rd and 1917th in the United States.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Chicago compared to 2.2 months in Louisville. Ranked 3rd vs 78th best cities to live in the United States, and 23rd vs 299th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Chicago vs Louisville infographic

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Prices in Chicago vs Louisville

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

	Chicago	Louisville
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$21.9	$14.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$90.6	$65.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12	$10.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7	$5.63
☕ Cappuccino	$5.4	$4.62
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.95	$2.28
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1841	$1023
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1327	$833
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3729	$1823
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2474	$1673
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$104	$121
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$159	$188
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$62.1	$58.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.68%	6.65%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3391	$3405
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2689	$3066
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.48	$1.74
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$75.1	$48.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.1	$16.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.06	$0.84
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.94	$0.57
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.68	$2.52
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.61	$3.22
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.13	$3.13
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.5	$13.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.2	$12
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.3	$13.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.67	$4.45
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.84	$1.56
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.36	$4.14
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.43	$5.34
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.18	$2.36
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.71	$2.59
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.81	$1.35
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.85	$1.95
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.9	$14.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.04	$3.22
🚬 Cigarette pack	$15	$8.52
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.5	$6.37
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.02	$5.06
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.63	$3.47
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.76	$1.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$63	$23.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.8	$13.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$127	$113
💇 Haircut, simple	$29.8	$15.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$59	$48.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$94.4	$88.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2114	$1240
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$24502	$13378

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

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 Louisville

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.7 km or 2.9 mi	Jeffersonville	$1731
6.4 km or 3.9 mi	Clarksville	$1863
8 km or 4.9 mi	New Albany	$1903
16 km or 10 mi	Jeffersontown	$1874
46 km or 29 mi	Shelbyville	$1851
50 km or 31 mi	Radcliff	$1865
63 km or 39 mi	Elizabethtown	$1777
78 km or 48 mi	Frankfort	$1664
104 km or 65 mi	Georgetown	$1874
107 km or 67 mi	Columbus	$1875
111 km or 69 mi	Nicholasville	$1862
113 km or 70 mi	Lexington	$1845
121 km or 75 mi	Bloomington	$2147
126 km or 79 mi	Florence	$1940
130 km or 81 mi	Independence	$2145
132 km or 82 mi	Owensboro	$1779
140 km or 87 mi	Franklin	$2001
140 km or 87 mi	Richmond	$1636
140 km or 87 mi	Winchester	$1848
140 km or 87 mi	Covington	$2490
146 km or 91 mi	Cincinnati	$1925
154 km or 96 mi	Greenwood	$2010
154 km or 96 mi	Bowling Green	$1751
159 km or 99 mi	Fairfield	$1914
161 km or 100 mi	Evansville	$2100
163 km or 101 mi	Hamilton	$1895
164 km or 102 mi	Oxford	$1839
165 km or 102 mi	Somerset	$1432
167 km or 104 mi	Henderson	$1847
170 km or 106 mi	Plainfield	$1953
171 km or 106 mi	Greenfield	$1880
172 km or 107 mi	Indianapolis	$2189
173 km or 108 mi	Tompkinsville	$1824
175 km or 109 mi	Mason	$1853
180 km or 112 mi	Lawrence	$2023
183 km or 114 mi	Middletown	$1427
185 km or 115 mi	Brownsburg	$1751
186 km or 116 mi	Lebanon	$1834
190 km or 118 mi	Richmond	$1872
190 km or 118 mi	Fishers	$1974