Chicago vs Madrid - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Chicago	Madrid
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2678	$1781
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6655	$4027
🏠 One person rent	$1596	$1048
🏘️ Family rent	$2946	$1736
🍽️ Food expenses	$700	$445
🚐 Transport expenses	$200	$163
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4876	$2294
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	10 km
🎓 Higher education	100	98
😀 Quality of life	95	90
🏙️ Population	2.75M	3.42M

The cost of living in Chicago is 50% more expensive than in Madrid. Cities ranked 529th and 2443rd ($2678 vs $1781) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 483rd and 5th in the United States and Spain, respectively. Check the United States vs Spain comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Chicago compared to 1.3 months in Madrid. Chicago ranked 3rd best city to live in the United States vs Madrid ranked 1st in Spain, while ranked 23rd and 151st among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Chicago vs Madrid infographic

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Prices in Chicago vs Madrid

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

	Chicago	Madrid
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$21.9	$14.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$90.6	$57
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12	$10.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7	$4.36
☕ Cappuccino	$5.4	$2.92
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.95	$2.77
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1841	$1203
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1327	$853
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3729	$2092
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2474	$1428
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$104	$94
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$159	$145
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$62.1	$30.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.68%	3.59%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3391	$6884
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2689	$3988
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.48	$1.56
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$75.1	$32.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.1	$15.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.06	$1.74
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.94	$1.11
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.68	$1.31
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.61	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.13	$3.12
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.5	$13.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.2	$8.12
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.3	$14.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.67	$2.31
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.84	$1.91
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.36	$2.13
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.43	$2.26
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.18	$1.78
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.71	$1.77
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.81	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.85	$2.02
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.9	$6.89
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.04	$1.21
🚬 Cigarette pack	$15	$6.25
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.5	$11.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.02	$3.96
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.63	$2.62
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.76	$2.99
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$63	$45
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.8	$10.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$127	$58.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$29.8	$15.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$59	$80.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$94.4	$90.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2114	$576
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$24502	$10042

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 Madrid

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Pozuelo de Alarcon	$1565
11 km or 6.7 mi	Coslada	$1530
14 km or 8.5 mi	Alcobendas	$1433
18 km or 11 mi	Mostoles	$1573
18 km or 11 mi	Fuenlabrada	$1389
18 km or 11 mi	Torrejon de Ardoz	$1387
21 km or 13 mi	Tres Cantos	$1309
29 km or 18 mi	Alcala de Henares	$1293
50 km or 31 mi	Guadalajara	$1056
68 km or 42 mi	Toledo	$1204
69 km or 43 mi	Segovia	$1285
138 km or 86 mi	Cuenca	$1084
155 km or 97 mi	Laguna de Duero	$1201
158 km or 98 mi	Villarrobledo	$1235
162 km or 101 mi	Valladolid	$1212
177 km or 110 mi	Salamanca	$1086
196 km or 122 mi	Puertollano	$812
208 km or 129 mi	Plasencia	$1098
211 km or 131 mi	Zamora	$1286
215 km or 133 mi	Burgos	$1107
223 km or 139 mi	Albacete	$1209
242 km or 150 mi	Villanueva de la Serena	$1157
244 km or 151 mi	Requena	$1261
250 km or 156 mi	Logrono	$983
251 km or 156 mi	Caceres	$947
253 km or 157 mi	Tudela	$1241
258 km or 160 mi	Linares	$1220
269 km or 167 mi	Ubeda	$1316
272 km or 169 mi	Zaragoza	$1101
281 km or 175 mi	Merida	$1126
283 km or 176 mi	Vitoria-Gasteiz	$1532
288 km or 179 mi	Leon	$1241
295 km or 183 mi	Jaen	$930
296 km or 184 mi	Jumilla	$1241
297 km or 184 mi	Cordoba	$1100
298 km or 185 mi	Yecla	$1324
299 km or 186 mi	Braganca	$806
301 km or 187 mi	Martos	$1204
302 km or 187 mi	Caravaca de la Cruz	$1221
302 km or 188 mi	Valencia	$1522