Chicago vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Chicago	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2799	$533
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6454	$1272
🏠 One person rent	$1702	$235
🏘️ Family rent	$2727	$392
🍽️ Food expenses	$702	$220
🚐 Transport expenses	$204	$22.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5210	$181
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	100	1
😀 Quality of life	97	25
🏙️ Population	2.75M	63.4K

The cost of living in Chicago is 425% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 394th and 8428th ($2799 vs $533) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 338th and 1st in the United States and Kiribati, respectively. Check the United States vs Kiribati comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.9 months in Chicago compared to 0.3 months in South Tarawa. Chicago ranked 2nd best city to live in the United States vs South Tarawa ranked 1st in Kiribati, while ranked 16th and 8954th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Chicago vs South Tarawa infographic

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Prices in Chicago vs South Tarawa

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

	Chicago	South Tarawa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$19.2	$3.73
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$86.5	$21.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12	$5.03
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.36	$1.8
☕ Cappuccino	$5.6	$1.9
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.99	$0.61
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1993	$226
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1414	$155
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3215	$405
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2313	$280
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$108	$39.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$168	$61.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$64.8	$26.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.77%	12.18%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3645	$1457
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2499	$926
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.48	$0.42
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$74.8	$16.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$17	$6.92
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.01	$1.07
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.08	$1.21
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.01	$0.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.93	$1.21
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.3	$1.7
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.4	$7.34
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.3	$4.41
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.8	$7.25
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.04	$2.21
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.8	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.11	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.56	$1.12
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.37	$1.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.76	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.79	$0.36
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.14	$1.23
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.7	$7.85
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.81	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$16.5	$2.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$12.8	$3.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7	$2.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.84	$1.54
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.14	$1.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$68.2	$24.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17.1	$4.54
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$135	$18.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.7	$3.66
👖 Brand Jeans	$61.8	$30.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$94.8	$66.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2032	$113
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$23423	$3644

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 South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1496
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1502
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$733
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$684
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$683
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1417
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1419
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$1882
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$596
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$997
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$1884
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$818
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$836
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$751
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$753
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1811
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1807
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1878
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1024
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1022
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$548
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$566
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$532
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1437
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2406
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$2786
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1513
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$507
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1503
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$1683
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1595
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1712
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1482
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2825
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1697
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1710
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1798
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2700
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2065
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2637