Chicago vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Chicago	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2678	$2539
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6655	$6160
🏠 One person rent	$1596	$1496
🏘️ Family rent	$2946	$2729
🍽️ Food expenses	$700	$522
🚐 Transport expenses	$200	$374
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4876	$4315
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	100	100
😀 Quality of life	95	100
🏙️ Population	2.75M	4.84M

The cost of living in Chicago is 5% more expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 529th and 745th ($2678 vs $2539) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 483rd 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 1.7 months in Sydney. Chicago ranked 3rd best city to live in the United States vs Sydney ranked 2nd in Australia, while ranked 23rd and 2nd 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	$21.9	$13.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$90.6	$66
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12	$9.73
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7	$7.29
☕ Cappuccino	$5.4	$3.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.95	$2.55
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1841	$1823
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1327	$1225
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3729	$3607
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2474	$2246
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$104	$106
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$159	$165
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$62.1	$45.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.68%	6.4%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3391	$13272
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2689	$7795
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.48	$3.19
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$75.1	$133
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.1	$26.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.06	$1.25
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.94	$1.55
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.68	$2.26
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.61	$2.06
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.13	$4.76
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.5	$10.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.2	$8.32
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.3	$13
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.67	$3.11
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.84	$2.65
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.36	$3.13
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.43	$3.84
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.18	$2.34
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.71	$2.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.81	$0.87
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.85	$2.41
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.9	$13.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.04	$4.35
🚬 Cigarette pack	$15	$28.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.5	$6.73
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.02	$5.01
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.63	$2.66
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.76	$2.67
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$63	$55.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.8	$15.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$127	$58.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$29.8	$20.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$59	$80.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$94.4	$108
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2114	$1992
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$24502	$17957

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	$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 Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2099
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2252
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$1824
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1584
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1416
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1448
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1538
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1616
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1511
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2023
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1702
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1681
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1185
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1457
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1963
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1619
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1601
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$1781
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$1727
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2239
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2067
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1654
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1643
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1291
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1504
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1645
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1677
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1600
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1620
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2194
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1691
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1671
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1669
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2016
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1625
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1635
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1748
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$1981
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1390
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1683