Chicago, Illinois Cost Of Living

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Overall 10%

Goods & Services 9%

Housing 17%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2019 and was released from C2ER in January, 2020; this is the most current data available.

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	Chicago	Illinois	National
Cost of living	110	98	100
Goods & Services	109	98	100
Groceries	104	97	100
Health care	100	100	100
Housing	117	95	100
Transportation	125	112	100
Utilities	93	97	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Chicago is 12% higher than the Illinois average
The cost of living in Chicago is 10% higher than the national average
Chicago housing is 17% higher than the national average
Illinois general sales tax is 23% higher than the national average
Illinois state income tax is 101% higher than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$76,476	$6,373	$1,784	$2,295
Renters	$35,017	$2,918	$817	$1,051

A good way to judge both the affordability of the housing and the cost of living in Chicago is by simply calculating the maximum that should be spent on housing, otherwise known as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The plan is to avoid spending more than 28 percent of the gross income on costs that pertain to housing and no more than 36 percent on all expenses and debts. Chicago has a median income of about $76,476 for people who own homes. Based on that number, a maximum of $1,784 should be spent on expenses related to housing. Renters have a slightly different median income, which is $35,017. Based on this average, renters should spend no more than $817 on all rental costs if they want to maintain a non-impoverished standard of living.

Illinois Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Illinois	6.25%	10.25%

Illinois Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Illinois	4.95%	4.95%

Goods & Services

Item	Chicago	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$22.00	$17.49	25.8%
Beauty Salon	$69.77	$38.17	82.8%
Toothpaste	$2.69	$2.32	15.9%
Shampoo	$0.92	$1.01	9.1%
Movie	$14.86	$10.72	38.6%
Bowling	$19.00	$13.86	37.1%

Groceries

Item	Chicago	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$4.07	$3.90	4.4%
Fried Chicken	$1.74	$1.40	24.7%
Milk	$2.09	$1.96	6.5%
Potatoes	$3.74	$3.18	17.5%
Pizza	$10.00	$10.39	3.8%
Beer	$8.14	$9.23	11.8%

Health Care

Item	Chicago	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$97.00	$106.34	8.8%
Doctor	$105.00	$115.25	8.9%
Dentist	$102.00	$98.38	3.7%
Ibuprofen	$9.95	$9.26	7.4%
Lipitor	$494.16	$466.47	5.9%

Housing

Item	Chicago	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$225,200.00	$184,700.00	21.9%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,857.61	$1,273.32	45.9%
Apartment Rent	$987.00	$949.00	4.0%

Transportation

Item	Chicago	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$3.42	$2.59	31.8%
Tire Balancing	$57.00	$48.90	16.6%

Utilities

Item	Chicago	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$131.81	$167.60	21.4%
Phone	$200.46	$163.42	22.7%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Hodgkins, IL	1,960	87	-13%
Hometown, IL	4,343	91	-9%
Whiting, IN	4,870	96	-4%
Calumet Park, IL	8,320	96	-4%
Merrionette Park, IL	1,896	97	-3%
Chicago, IL	2,714,017	110	10%

Cities with similar population

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Houston, TX	2,240,582	94	-6%
Philadelphia, PA	1,559,938	102	2%
Phoenix, AZ	1,555,324	96	-4%
Los Angeles, CA	3,918,872	148	48%
San Antonio, TX	1,439,358	88	-12%
Chicago, IL	2,714,017	110	10%

Source: The Chicago, IL cost of living data displayed above is derived from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) for 2019.