Chicago vs. New Orleans Cost of Living Summary

Chicago is 47.0% more expensive than New Orleans.

Restaurants
pay 1.8% more in Chicago
Transportation
pay 20.2% more in Chicago
Housing
pay 7.4% more in Chicago
Childcare
pay 2.9 times more in Chicago
Entertainment and Sports
pay 37.5% more in Chicago
Clothing
pay 29.4% more in Chicago

The cost of childcare, entertainment and sports, clothing, transportation, housing, and restaurants in Chicago are more expensive than in New Orleans. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Chicago.

Chicago vs. New Orleans Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Chicago instead of New Orleans, you would:

pay 1.8% more for restaurants

 
New Orleans
Chicago
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $25.00
 
$25.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$12.00
 
$11.34
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.99
 
$3.02
 

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pay (unknown) more for groceries

 
New Orleans
Chicago
Bread
1 loaf
$3.84
 
$4.19
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $8.06
 
$7.87
 
Milk (1 gallon) $4.78
 
$3.94
 

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pay 20.2% more for transportation

 
New Orleans
Chicago
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.07
 
$4.16
 
Monthly public transit pass $45.00
 
$75.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $36,884.90
 
$31,965.00
 

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pay 7.4% more for housing

 
New Orleans
Chicago
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$70.24
 
$58.52
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,788.46
 
$2,360.96
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,119.08
 
$1,512.92
 

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pay 2.9 times more for childcare

 
New Orleans
Chicago
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,563.89
 
$2,475.00
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $10,230.00
 
$42,300.00
 

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pay 37.5% more for entertainment and sports

 
New Orleans
Chicago
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $5.60
 
$7.50
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.12
 
$5.30
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$8.49
 
$17.00
 

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pay 29.4% more for clothing

 
New Orleans
Chicago
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$52.14
 
$64.98
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$36.67
 
$51.67
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$79.17
 
$97.00
 

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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: March 2025
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