Chicago vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Chicago	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2667	$2801
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6807	$6767
🏠 One person rent	$1579	$1663
🏘️ Family rent	$3056	$3057
🍽️ Food expenses	$700	$569
🚐 Transport expenses	$205	$410
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4901	$4399
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	100	99
😀 Quality of life	96	99
🏙️ Population	2.75M	4.84M

The cost of living in Chicago is 5% less expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 483rd and 312th ($2667 vs $2801) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 425th and 1st in the United States and Australia, respectively. Check the United States vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Chicago compared to 1.6 months in Sydney. Chicago ranked 3rd best city to live in the United States vs Sydney ranked 2nd in Australia, while ranked 20th and 4th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Chicago vs Sydney infographic

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Prices in Chicago vs Sydney

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

	Chicago	Sydney
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$21	$15.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$87.3	$70.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.7	$10.3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.62	$7.41
☕ Cappuccino	$5.4	$3.54
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.12	$2.66
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1974	$1992
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1280	$1372
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3828	$4038
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2594	$2523
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$102	$114
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$156	$177
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$59.1	$53.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.61%	6.38%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3554	$16279
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3158	$9905
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.49	$3.46
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$76.5	$143
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.6	$29.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.12	$1.4
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.02	$1.71
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.92	$2.86
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5	$2.52
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.69	$4.82
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.8	$12.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.8	$8.94
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.9	$15
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.97	$3.42
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.91	$2.92
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.81	$3.22
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.56	$4.5
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.34	$2.54
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.08	$2.32
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.93	$0.98
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.86	$2.43
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.8	$14.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$5.08
🚬 Cigarette pack	$16.6	$29.8
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.6	$6.92
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.03	$5.48
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.65	$2.83
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.81	$2.9
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$63.1	$58.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15	$16.9
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$126	$67.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$29.3	$20.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$62.2	$78.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$95.5	$117
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2457	$2054
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19423	$18951

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	$2427
14 km or 8.8 mi	Berwyn	$2463
14 km or 8.9 mi	Oak Park	$2424
16 km or 10 mi	Elmwood Park	$2375
18 km or 11 mi	Maywood	$2376
18 km or 11 mi	Evanston	$2177
19 km or 12 mi	Skokie	$2307
19 km or 12 mi	Burbank	$2344
20 km or 12 mi	Melrose Park	$2352
21 km or 13 mi	Oak Lawn	$2326
22 km or 14 mi	Morton Grove	$2367
22 km or 14 mi	Niles	$2412
23 km or 14 mi	Park Ridge	$2393
23 km or 14 mi	Wilmette	$2292
25 km or 16 mi	Blue Island	$2313
26 km or 16 mi	Elmhurst	$2305
27 km or 17 mi	Glenview	$2360
28 km or 17 mi	Des Plaines	$2358
28 km or 18 mi	Dolton	$2292
29 km or 18 mi	Villa Park	$2268
30 km or 19 mi	Harvey	$2292
30 km or 19 mi	East Chicago	$1950
30 km or 19 mi	Westmont	$2293
31 km or 19 mi	Calumet	$2296
31 km or 20 mi	South Holland	$2295
32 km or 20 mi	Lombard	$2224
32 km or 20 mi	Hammond	$1975
32 km or 20 mi	Oak Forest	$2276
33 km or 20 mi	Northbrook	$2392
33 km or 20 mi	Mount Prospect	$2363
33 km or 20 mi	Darien	$2276
33 km or 21 mi	Elk Grove Village	$2380
34 km or 21 mi	Downers Grove	$2290
35 km or 22 mi	Orland Park	$2269
36 km or 22 mi	Lansing	$2280
36 km or 22 mi	Glen Ellyn	$2134
37 km or 23 mi	Highland Park	$2331
37 km or 23 mi	Munster	$2002
37 km or 23 mi	Tinley Park	$2274
37 km or 23 mi	Wheeling	$2357

Cities near Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2286
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2472
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$1997
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1732
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1532
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1833
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1674
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1748
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1500
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2393
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1815
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1661
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1289
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1628
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1913
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1746
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1717
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$1958
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$1829
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2300
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2141
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1805
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1800
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1397
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1635
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1876
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1877
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1738
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1758
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2397
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1822
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1799
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1795
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2491
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1757
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1767
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1925
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$1892
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1357
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1754