Chicago vs Male - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Chicago	Male
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2822	$1311
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6502	$2822
🏠 One person rent	$1695	$805
🏘️ Family rent	$2718	$1397
🍽️ Food expenses	$730	$373
🚐 Transport expenses	$192	$44.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5026	$866
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	100	8
😀 Quality of life	95	64
🏙️ Population	2.75M	133K

The cost of living in Chicago is 115% more expensive than in Male. Cities ranked 375th and 4552nd ($2822 vs $1311) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 311th and 2nd in the United States and Maldives, respectively. Check the United States vs Maldives comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Chicago compared to 0.7 months in Male. Chicago ranked 3rd best city to live in the United States vs Male ranked 1st in Maldives, while ranked 22nd and 5347th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/chicago/male.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Chicago vs Male infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/chicago/male" target="_blank">Chicago vs Male - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Chicago vs Male

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

	Chicago	Male
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$19.9	$6.02
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$99.7	$34
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.5	$9.65
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.93	$4.66
☕ Cappuccino	$5.6	$2.85
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.05	$1.52
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2002	$810
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1406	$620
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3205	$1472
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2314	$1144
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$101	$74.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$157	$116
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$68	$72.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.66%	14.01%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3759	$2247
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2521	$1903
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.5	$0.65
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$75.2	$32.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.5	$17.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.99	$0.93
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.24	$1.99
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.16	$1.56
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.38	$1.38
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.59	$1.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.3	$7.64
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.8	$6.21
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.6	$9.49
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.36	$4.08
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.81	$3.53
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.9	$4.3
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.44	$2.86
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$1.76
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$1.42
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.8	$0.38
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.62	$1.99
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.1	$10.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.03	$2.71
🚬 Cigarette pack	$16.9	$14.8
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.6	$5.34
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.06	$3.77
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.23	$3.15
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.21	$1.82
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$69.5	$75.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$16.7	$9.78
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$154	$22.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$33	$4.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$60.8	$41
👟 Brand Sneakers	$99.7	$85.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1863	$193
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$24172	$3300

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	$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

Cities near Male

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.4 km or 3.4 mi	Hulhumale	$1379
610 km or 379 mi	Thiruvananthapuram	$348
618 km or 384 mi	Varkala	$303
621 km or 386 mi	Nagercoil	$275
624 km or 388 mi	Kollam	$251
687 km or 427 mi	Tirunelveli	$269
688 km or 428 mi	Kottayam	$299
713 km or 443 mi	Kochi	$387
714 km or 444 mi	Ernakulam	$350
724 km or 450 mi	Thoothukudi	$293
761 km or 473 mi	Beruwala	$609
763 km or 474 mi	Colombo	$676
766 km or 476 mi	Thrissur	$349
771 km or 479 mi	Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte	$627
772 km or 479 mi	Galle	$518
777 km or 483 mi	Negombo	$487
788 km or 490 mi	Gampaha	$414
803 km or 499 mi	Matara	$499
814 km or 506 mi	Malappuram	$271
817 km or 507 mi	Madurai	$348
825 km or 513 mi	Kozhikode	$316
843 km or 524 mi	Dindigul	$299
849 km or 528 mi	Coimbatore	$331
862 km or 535 mi	Kandy	$447
879 km or 546 mi	Kannur	$320
892 km or 554 mi	Anuradhapura	$554
899 km or 559 mi	Tiruppur	$344
922 km or 573 mi	Erode	$285
935 km or 581 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$303
964 km or 599 mi	Thanjavur	$285
968 km or 602 mi	Mysore	$349
977 km or 607 mi	Salem	$297
979 km or 608 mi	Mangalore	$389
983 km or 611 mi	Trincomalee	$544
1027 km or 638 mi	Udupi	$273
1076 km or 669 mi	Bangalore	$523
1087 km or 675 mi	Cuddalore	$306
1093 km or 679 mi	Tumkur	$332
1106 km or 688 mi	Shimoga	$335
1108 km or 688 mi	Pondicherry	$327