Chicago vs Rome - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Chicago	Rome
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2678	$1718
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6655	$4113
🏠 One person rent	$1596	$929
🏘️ Family rent	$2946	$1682
🍽️ Food expenses	$700	$472
🚐 Transport expenses	$200	$164
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4876	$1842
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	100	92
😀 Quality of life	95	86
🏙️ Population	2.75M	2.75M

The cost of living in Chicago is 56% more expensive than in Rome. Cities ranked 529th and 2624th ($2678 vs $1718) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 483rd and 2nd in the United States and Italy, respectively. Check the United States vs Italy comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Chicago compared to 1.1 months in Rome. Chicago ranked 3rd best city to live in the United States vs Rome ranked 1st in Italy, while ranked 23rd and 337th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Chicago vs Rome infographic

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Prices in Chicago vs Rome

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

	Chicago	Rome
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$21.9	$14.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$90.6	$60.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12	$10.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7	$5.2
☕ Cappuccino	$5.4	$1.67
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.95	$2.38
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1841	$1049
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1327	$701
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3729	$2124
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2474	$1286
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$104	$130
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$159	$199
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$62.1	$28.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.68%	4.16%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3391	$7056
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2689	$3427
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.48	$1.57
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$75.1	$36.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.1	$16.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.06	$1.87
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.94	$1.61
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.68	$1.71
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.61	$2.3
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.13	$4.06
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.5	$16
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.2	$11.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.3	$17.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.67	$2.54
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.84	$2.1
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.36	$1.95
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.43	$2.97
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.18	$1.65
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.71	$1.72
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.81	$0.29
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.85	$2.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.9	$6.12
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.04	$1.68
🚬 Cigarette pack	$15	$6.92
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.5	$8.06
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.02	$4.17
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.63	$2.88
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.76	$2.83
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$63	$51.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.8	$10.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$127	$112
💇 Haircut, simple	$29.8	$20.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$59	$71.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$94.4	$85.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2114	$502
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$24502	$9864

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 Rome

Distance	City	Cost of living
2.7 km or 1.7 mi	Vatican City	$964
19 km or 12 mi	Frascati	$1562
34 km or 21 mi	Ladispoli	$1504
44 km or 27 mi	Cisterna di Latina	$1324
47 km or 29 mi	Colleferro	$1270
51 km or 32 mi	Anzio	$1289
59 km or 37 mi	Latina	$1250
61 km or 38 mi	Civitavecchia	$1543
65 km or 40 mi	Rieti	$1224
66 km or 41 mi	Viterbo	$1287
76 km or 47 mi	Terni	$1004
78 km or 48 mi	Frosinone	$1046
80 km or 49 mi	Avezzano	$1058
91 km or 56 mi	L'Aquila	$1208
93 km or 58 mi	Terracina	$1340
120 km or 74 mi	Foligno	$1241
132 km or 82 mi	Teramo	$1171
136 km or 84 mi	Perugia	$1100
140 km or 87 mi	Ascoli Piceno	$1128
148 km or 92 mi	Chieti	$1294
156 km or 97 mi	Pescara	$1312
170 km or 106 mi	Aversa	$1101
173 km or 107 mi	Santa Maria Capua Vetere	$1074
174 km or 108 mi	Fermo	$1239
175 km or 109 mi	Macerata	$1133
178 km or 111 mi	Giugliano in Campania	$1231
179 km or 112 mi	Caserta	$1181
181 km or 113 mi	Arezzo	$1267
183 km or 114 mi	Frattamaggiore	$1218
184 km or 115 mi	Siena	$1518
185 km or 115 mi	Campobasso	$955
187 km or 116 mi	Civitanova Marche	$1204
189 km or 117 mi	Naples	$1396
209 km or 130 mi	Ancona	$1270
210 km or 130 mi	Benevento	$1165
213 km or 133 mi	Castellammare di Stabia	$1301
221 km or 137 mi	Avellino	$1061
221 km or 137 mi	Fano	$1229
226 km or 140 mi	Amalfi	$1521
227 km or 141 mi	San Marino City	$1201