Chicago vs Toronto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Chicago	Toronto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2851	$2415
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6527	$5363
🏠 One person rent	$1714	$1430
🏘️ Family rent	$2737	$2259
🍽️ Food expenses	$704	$606
🚐 Transport expenses	$212	$236
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5090	$3517
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	100	86
😀 Quality of life	95	94
🏙️ Population	2.75M	2.79M

The cost of living in Chicago is 18% more expensive than in Toronto. Cities ranked 358th and 1059th ($2851 vs $2415) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 300th and 6th in the United States and Canada, respectively. Check the United States vs Canada comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Chicago compared to 1.5 months in Toronto. Chicago ranked 3rd best city to live in the United States vs Toronto ranked 1st in Canada, while ranked 18th and 46th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Chicago vs Toronto

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

	Chicago	Toronto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$19.6	$17.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$84.3	$78.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.7	$10.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.35	$6.66
☕ Cappuccino	$6.06	$4.26
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.85	$2.15
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2011	$1469
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1414	$1255
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3203	$2469
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2316	$1987
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$117	$84.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$180	$128
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$63.3	$47.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.32%	4.71%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3899	$8879
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2568	$6979
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.51	$2.41
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$82.6	$111
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.5	$14.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.12	$1.14
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.2	$2.77
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.67	$2.7
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.62	$2.58
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.11	$3.5
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.2	$14.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.5	$13.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.1	$16.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.78	$3.83
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.86	$1.26
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.96	$3.8
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.01	$4.15
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.39	$2.8
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.63	$1.89
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.79	$1.01
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.71	$2.31
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16	$14.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.02	$2.33
🚬 Cigarette pack	$17.4	$14.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.6	$11.7
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.05	$6.04
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.22	$3.48
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.31	$3.66
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$74.6	$45.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17	$13.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$177	$73.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$32.8	$23.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$62.9	$61.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$89.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1582	$930
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$27880	$22670

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	$2444
14 km or 8.8 mi	Berwyn	$2399
14 km or 8.9 mi	Oak Park	$2440
16 km or 10 mi	Elmwood Park	$2425
18 km or 11 mi	Maywood	$2423
18 km or 11 mi	Evanston	$2232
19 km or 12 mi	Skokie	$2309
19 km or 12 mi	Burbank	$2454
20 km or 12 mi	Melrose Park	$2430
21 km or 13 mi	Oak Lawn	$2463
22 km or 14 mi	Morton Grove	$2376
22 km or 14 mi	Niles	$2394
23 km or 14 mi	Park Ridge	$2461
23 km or 14 mi	Wilmette	$2323
25 km or 16 mi	Blue Island	$2444
26 km or 16 mi	Elmhurst	$2483
27 km or 17 mi	Glenview	$2436
28 km or 17 mi	Des Plaines	$2569
28 km or 18 mi	Dolton	$2436
29 km or 18 mi	Villa Park	$2508
30 km or 19 mi	Harvey	$2425
30 km or 19 mi	East Chicago	$1751
30 km or 19 mi	Westmont	$2440
31 km or 19 mi	Calumet	$2443
31 km or 20 mi	South Holland	$2439
32 km or 20 mi	Lombard	$2580
32 km or 20 mi	Hammond	$1761
32 km or 20 mi	Oak Forest	$2429
33 km or 20 mi	Northbrook	$2400
33 km or 20 mi	Mount Prospect	$2508
33 km or 20 mi	Darien	$2463
33 km or 21 mi	Elk Grove Village	$2543
34 km or 21 mi	Downers Grove	$2418
35 km or 22 mi	Orland Park	$2438
36 km or 22 mi	Lansing	$2425
36 km or 22 mi	Glen Ellyn	$2406
37 km or 23 mi	Highland Park	$2418
37 km or 23 mi	Munster	$1784
37 km or 23 mi	Tinley Park	$2423
37 km or 23 mi	Wheeling	$2453

Cities near Toronto

Distance	City	Cost of living
20 km or 13 mi	Vaughan	$2233
23 km or 14 mi	Mississauga	$2308
24 km or 15 mi	Richmond Hill	$2483
26 km or 16 mi	Markham	$2172
31 km or 19 mi	Brampton	$2102
34 km or 21 mi	Oakville	$2318
35 km or 22 mi	Ajax	$2124
46 km or 28 mi	Halton Hills	$2034
50 km or 31 mi	Oshawa	$1581
51 km or 32 mi	Burlington	$2214
54 km or 34 mi	New Tecumseth	$1997
56 km or 35 mi	St. Catharines	$1994
60 km or 37 mi	Hamilton	$2006
65 km or 40 mi	Orangeville	$1892
67 km or 41 mi	Niagara Falls	$1892
71 km or 44 mi	Niagara Falls	$1958
71 km or 44 mi	Guelph	$2017
77 km or 48 mi	Welland	$1848
81 km or 50 mi	Grand Island	$2078
81 km or 51 mi	Lockport	$2081
82 km or 51 mi	North Tonawanda	$2084
82 km or 51 mi	Cambridge	$2049
84 km or 52 mi	Barrie	$1449
89 km or 56 mi	Brantford	$1832
90 km or 56 mi	Amherst	$2138
92 km or 57 mi	Kitchener	$2109
94 km or 58 mi	Waterloo	$1936
96 km or 59 mi	Buffalo	$2303
100 km or 62 mi	Cheektowaga	$2175
100 km or 62 mi	Clarence	$2123
103 km or 64 mi	West Seneca	$2181
103 km or 64 mi	Orillia	$1939
105 km or 65 mi	Lancaster	$2125
111 km or 69 mi	Peterborough	$1953
112 km or 70 mi	Hamburg	$1863
114 km or 71 mi	Orchard Park	$2030
132 km or 82 mi	Stratford	$1706
146 km or 91 mi	Greece	$2046
146 km or 91 mi	Chili	$2035
148 km or 92 mi	Gates	$2053