Chicago vs Thimphu - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Chicago	Thimphu
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2799	$420
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6454	$1031
🏠 One person rent	$1702	$152
🏘️ Family rent	$2727	$236
🍽️ Food expenses	$702	$174
🚐 Transport expenses	$204	$39.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5210	$544
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Bad
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	100	5
😀 Quality of life	97	42
🏙️ Population	2.75M	115K

The cost of living in Chicago is 567% more expensive than in Thimphu. Cities ranked 394th and 8940th ($2799 vs $420) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 338th and 2nd in the United States and Bhutan, respectively. Check the United States vs Bhutan comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.9 months in Chicago compared to 1.3 months in Thimphu. Chicago ranked 2nd best city to live in the United States vs Thimphu ranked 1st in Bhutan, while ranked 16th and 7547th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Chicago vs Thimphu infographic

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Prices in Chicago vs Thimphu

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

	Chicago	Thimphu
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$19.2	$2.79
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$86.5	$17.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12	$4.17
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.36	$2.28
☕ Cappuccino	$5.6	$1.77
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.99	$0.53
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1993	$168
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1414	$101
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3215	$255
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2313	$171
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$108	$17.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$168	$26.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$64.8	$20.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.77%	10.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3645	$600
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2499	$947
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.48	$1.71
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$74.8	$11.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$17	$18.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.01	$0.77
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.08	$0.82
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.01	$0.75
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.93	$0.61
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.3	$1.85
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.4	$4.81
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.3	$4.15
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.8	$4.17
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.04	$2.19
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.8	$1.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.11	$1.81
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.56	$0.73
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.37	$0.48
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.76	$0.58
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.79	$0.21
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.14	$1.03
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.7	$5.99
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.81	$0.67
🚬 Cigarette pack	$16.5	$3.72
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$12.8	$1.55
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7	$3.54
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.84	$1.2
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.14	$0.62
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$68.2	$38.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17.1	$3.16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$135	$27.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.7	$3.19
👖 Brand Jeans	$61.8	$32
👟 Brand Sneakers	$94.8	$43.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2032	$235
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$23423	$653

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 Thimphu

Distance	City	Cost of living
22 km or 14 mi	Paro	$450
147 km or 91 mi	Siliguri	$297
196 km or 122 mi	Rangpur	$308
203 km or 126 mi	Saidpur	$311
211 km or 131 mi	Shigatse	$918
214 km or 133 mi	Damak	$316
257 km or 159 mi	Raiganj	$298
257 km or 160 mi	Guwahati	$348
258 km or 160 mi	Biratnagar	$321
259 km or 161 mi	Dispur	$338
266 km or 166 mi	Balurghat	$297
280 km or 174 mi	Lhasa	$981
287 km or 178 mi	Purnia	$284
294 km or 183 mi	Bogra	$287
308 km or 191 mi	Shillong	$354
313 km or 195 mi	Malda	$297
313 km or 195 mi	Mymensingh	$282
350 km or 217 mi	Saharsa	$281
360 km or 224 mi	Bhagalpur	$257
362 km or 225 mi	Rajshahi	$274
364 km or 226 mi	Sylhet	$321
377 km or 234 mi	Janakpur	$293
401 km or 249 mi	Berhampore	$294
413 km or 257 mi	Narsingdi	$352
418 km or 260 mi	Brahmanbaria	$332
421 km or 262 mi	Kathmandu	$427
424 km or 264 mi	Lalitpur	$350
426 km or 265 mi	Dhaka	$464
438 km or 272 mi	Agartala	$362
439 km or 273 mi	Narayanganj	$348
444 km or 276 mi	Muzaffarpur	$284
454 km or 282 mi	Hetauda	$293
468 km or 291 mi	Krishnanagar	$272
474 km or 295 mi	Birgunj	$328
482 km or 299 mi	Jessore	$300
486 km or 302 mi	Shantipur	$286
493 km or 306 mi	Patna	$320
495 km or 308 mi	Durgapur	$289
500 km or 311 mi	Asansol	$286
502 km or 312 mi	Kulti	$289