Cost of living comparison

compared to

United Kingdom is 16.0% cheaper than Chicago.

If you lived in United Kingdom instead of Chicago, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 26.4% less for restaurants

 
Chicago
United Kingdom
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $25.00
 
$18.70
£14.88
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$11.34
 
$9.25
£7.36
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $3.02
 
$2.23
£1.78

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pay 32.3% less for groceries

 
Chicago
United Kingdom
Bread
1 loaf
$4.19
 
$1.53
£1.22
Local cheese (8 oz) $7.87
 
$4.35
£3.46
Milk (1 gallon) $3.94
 
$5.92
£4.71

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pay 32.2% more for transportation

 
Chicago
United Kingdom
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.16
 
$7.07
£5.63
Monthly public transit pass $75.00
 
$98.23
£78.17
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $31,965.00
 
$34,832.80
£27,718.79

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pay 7.9% less for housing

 
Chicago
United Kingdom
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$58.52
 
$39.40
£31.36
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $2,360.96
 
$1,243.58
£989.60
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,512.92
 
$1,020.84
£812.35

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pay 47.8% less for childcare

 
Chicago
United Kingdom
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $2,475.00
 
$1,497.56
£1,191.71
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $42,300.00
 
$18,629.32
£14,824.60

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pay 19.1% less for entertainment and sports

 
Chicago
United Kingdom
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $7.50
 
$5.63
£4.48
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.30
 
$4.12
£3.28
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$17.00
 
$17.47
£13.90

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pay 10.5% less for clothing

 
Chicago
United Kingdom
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$64.98
 
$78.43
£62.41
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$51.67
 
$40.13
£31.93
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$97.00
 
$90.36
£71.90

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2024
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See the cost of living in United States vs. United Kingdom. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within United States and United Kingdom.

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