What is the Cost of Living in Chicago?
Let’s start out by talking about the cost of living in Chicago. To help us understand how the cost of living compares to that in other regions, we will turn to “Sperling’s Best Places”: https://www.bestplaces.net/city/illinois/chicago.
This website rates cost of living on a scale where the US average is 100. Ratings above 100 represent a higher than average cost of living, while ratings below 100 represent a lower than average cost of living.
On that scale, Chicago rates a score of 106.9, while Illinois rates 93.4.
That means that while it is more expensive to live in Chicago than it is to live in Illinois on average, it is still only marginally more expensive than the cost of living on average nationwide. Indeed, we can say it is roughly comparable.
Considering that many metropolitan centers are far pricier to live in than the US average, this makes Chicago a very affordable city.
Some costs in Chicago are lower than the nationwide average, including groceries, healthcare expenses, housing, and utilities. Those that are more expensive include transportation and miscellaneous expenses. Transportation accounts for most of the difference.
While we are talking about cost of living, it also makes sense to discuss taxes in Illinois.
IL has a flat tax rate of 4.95%. That is higher than some other states with flat taxes rates, and lower than others.
But it makes it a lot more affordable to live in Chicago, than, say, anywhere in the state of Oregon, where the state tax rate starts at 4.75%, and climbs as high as 9.9%.
The sales tax rate in Illinois is 6.25%.
The Bottom Line: Living in Chicago is quite affordable, especially given that it is a major metropolitan area.