Cost of Living in Chicago: A Guide for Homebuyers

Published on January 25th, 2024
11 min read

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Joseph Gordon is an Editor with HomeLight. He has several years of experience reporting on the commercial real estate and insurance industries.

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Are you considering a move to Chicago? No matter where you’re considering relocating, you may want to know how the cost of living in the Windy City compares to your current living situation.

Thankfully, we have your back. This guide will break down what makes up the cost of living in Chicago, from housing expenses to food and healthcare costs. We’ll provide data from the local cost of living index and comparison tools and look at how Chicago ranks for livability compared to other U.S. cities.

We’ll also share a handy set of additional online resources to measure and compare the cost of living and expenses in other Illinois cities.

What makes up the ‘cost of living’ in Chicago?

Cambridge Dictionary defines cost of living as “the amount of money people need to spend to buy basic goods or services such as food, clothes, and a place to live.”

How that will factor into where you currently live versus where you might plan on moving (like Illinois, for example) will vary, but there are some common living expenses that you’ll have to consider.

This can be broken down into several categories:

Housing (mortgage/rent)
Energy (utility costs)
Food (groceries)
Transportation (vehicle or transit systems)
Healthcare (doctors, hospitals, dentists, etc.)

However, the costs often extend beyond these basics to cover other expenses, such as:

Clothing
Education
Childcare
Entertainment

These comprise the core costs associated with a particular way of living. However, the standard of living also has to consider your personal income and debts and how the dollar amounts compare to the costs of basic needs in your location or, in this case, the Chicago community where you might want to live.

Let’s take a quick look at some ways you can compare your current living cost with what you might experience if you move to Chicago.

What’s a Chicago cost of living index (CLI)?

A cost of living index (CLI) monitors how much these basic expenses evolve over time in different states, cities, or regions. They provide a way to compare the price of maintaining a particular standard of living.

The CLI for a city like Chicago is calculated by assessing the price of essential goods and services in different areas, such as housing, food, transportation, and healthcare

A local index is typically standardized, with a base city assigned a baseline index value (usually set at 100). Other cities are then compared against this benchmark. For example, an Illinois community with a CLI of 125 would signify that living there is 25% more expensive than the base location, while an index of 75 indicates it’s 25% less expensive.

A cost of living index will typically break down and score each basic expense by category. According to Best Places, Chicago’s cost of living is higher than the national average.

Here are separate scores for Chicago from the Best Places Chicago Cost of Living Index:

Overall CLI score: 105.7
Housing: 99.8
Healthcare: 88
Transportation: 138.5
Misc. goods and services: 139.8
Grocery items: 97.2
Utilities: 9,280%

Data source used: C2ER Council for Economic and Social Research

Cost perspective

Best Places notes that Chicago’s cost of living is about 5 points higher than the average U.S. city, based on expenses for housing and other core goods and services, placing it near the same level as cities like Miami and Las Vegas.

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Additional cost of living data for Chicago

Now, look at real-world dollar amounts collected by various cost-of-living sources. Here’s more of what you can expect if you move to Chicago.

Expatistan, a cost-of-living data site, provides these monthly cost estimates for Chicago:

Family of four estimated monthly costs: $6,450
Single-person estimated monthly costs: $3,896

Best Places lists these housing estimates on their Chicago cost of living pages:

Chicago housing data

Number of homes	1,252,478.0
Median home age	70 years
Median home cost	$284,100
Home appreciation rate (last 12 months)	10.1%
Home appreciation rate (last 5 years)	33.4%
Home appreciation rate (last 10 years)	66.0%
Property tax rate (per $1,000 of value)	$15.90
Property taxes paid (average home)	$4,415
Homes owned	40.5%
Housing vacant	11.2%
Homes rented	48.3%

Source: BestPlaces.com

Chicago tax rates

State individual income tax rate: 4.95%
State sales tax rate: 6.25% on general merchandise, 1% on qualifying foods, drugs, and medical appliances
Chicago sales tax rate: 1.25%
Effective property tax rate (percentage of home value): 2.23%

How does Chicago rank for livability?

Along with the cost of living, you might be curious how Chicago ranks as far as livability or quality of life. According to the AARP Livability Index, Chicago has an above-average quality of life score of 56.

The index then provides an overall score between 0-100 (higher is better) based on rankings from seven categories. Chicago did especially well in the “transportation” (safety and convenience) category.

The index then provides an overall score between 0-100 (higher is better) based on rankings from seven categories:

Overall Livability Score: 56
Housing (affordability and access): 54
Neighborhood (proximity and security): 73
Transportation (safety and convenience): 76
Environment (clean air and water): 48
Health (prevention, access, and quality): 47
Engagement (civic and social involvement): 58
Opportunity (inclusion and possibilities): 34

For perspective, the highest-ranked city scores in each category were:

Very Large: San Francisco, 66
Large: Madison, Wisconsin, 67
Mid-size: Portland Main, 68
Small: Aspen, Colorado, 73

No city earned a perfect score of 100. You can learn more about this livability index on AARP’s methodology page.

Check your current city’s livability score

AARP provides a Livability Index Search Page that scores communities and even neighborhoods across the country for services and amenities that impact your life. You can check your current city score or others where you like to live near Chicago. The livability index Community Finder tool allows you to filter by location, community size, livability measures, and other features, such as state and local plans to create age-friendly communities.

Additional cost of living indexes

Here are some cost of living index links to research additional Illinois living expenses:

Statista: Provides free access to many basic statistics. Paid subscriptions are available for more detailed information about Illinois communities.
ACCRA (C2ER): Maintained by the Council for Community and Economic Research. This is a paid service that maintains one of the largest databases of cost-of-living metrics for Chicago and other Illinois cities.
World Population Review CLI page: This website provides a free search-by-state tool at the bottom of its Cost of Living Index page.
Numbeo: This crowd-sourced CLI promotes itself as “the world’s largest database of user-contributed data about cities and countries worldwide.” This service can show you user-provided insights such as the cost of an inexpensive restaurant in Chicago or the perceived presence of crime in different parts of Illinois. It’s free for personal use.

Why are people moving to (or from) Chicago?

According to the United Van Lines 47th Annual Movers Study that tracks migrations within the United States, here are why people are moving into Illinois or away to other states.

Primary reasons people are moving

Inbound	Reason for the move	Outbound
4.90%	Retirement	21.40%
4.90%	Health	4.30%
34.20%	Family	19.70%
7.40%	Lifestyle	11.40%
33.10%	Job	26.10%
1.80%	Cost	3.60%

Total inbound: 38.7%

Total outbound: 61.3%

Budgeting for your move to Chicago

Below is a collection of handy online tools to help estimate your moving costs and living expenses in Chicago — from how much you’ll need to pay a mover to how much your current home might sell for and the proceeds you can expect.

1. Online move cost estimators

With today’s smart technology, you can find a wide variety of tools to help you estimate the cost of paying for a mover or how to find a trusted mover for your relocation to Chicago. Some examples include:

2. Cost of living calculators

Cost of living calculators differ from cost of living indexes. These tools, which are typically free, provide a comparison based on income and regional costs for housing, transportation, food, healthcare, and other basic necessities in the two locations you select.

For example, if you live in Denver, you can view a side-by-side cost comparison with Chicago expenses — or other nearby Illinois cities. Some popular cost-of-living calculators include:

3. Living wage and budget calculators

Living Wage Calculator: Designed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), this calculator can help you estimate the local wage rate that you’ll need as a full-time Chicago worker in order to cover the costs of your family’s basic living expenses.
Family Budget Calculator: This tool, provided by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), estimates the income your family will need to attain a modest — yet adequate — standard of living in your new Chicago community. Choose from 10 family types.

4. Homebuyer calculators

Home Affordability Calculator: Understand the costs associated with buying a home in Chicago and find out how much home you can afford before you start shopping or planning a move.
Down Payment Calculator: Estimate how much you might need to put down on a home in Chicago and learn more about the loan options that work best for you.
Closing Costs Calculator: Find out how much cash you’ll need for closing costs on a Chicago house, including estimated lender and third-party fees.

5. Home seller calculators

Home Value Estimator: Get a preliminary estimate of what your current home is worth, along with options to help you get the best price when you’re ready to sell.
Best Time to Sell Calculator: Use this calculator that incorporates nationwide real estate transaction data to help time your move.
Agent Commissions Calculator: Learn how much you might pay in real estate agent commissions when selling a house in your current market.
Net Proceeds Calculator: Get a ballpark idea of the net proceeds you could earn from the sale of your existing home.

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Selling your current home and buying in Chicago

To make your move smoother and less stressful, modern real estate solution companies like HomeLight have created innovative programs to help you buy a house before you sell your old one.

Watch the short video below to learn about HomeLight’s Buy Before You Sell program that lets you move into your new Chicago home now and sell your current house with peace of mind and on your timeline.

Partner with a professional to find your new Chicago home

As you plan your move, HomeLight can connect you with a top-performing, trusted real estate agent in your current city or in the Chicago community where you’d like to live. We analyze over 27 million transactions and thousands of reviews to determine which agent is best for you based on your needs.

For the best of both worlds — coming and going — ask your agent about HomeLight’s Buy Before You Sell program to help take the uncertainty out of your Chicago home purchase.

Header Image Source: (rudi1976 / DepositPhotos)

Article Sources (1)

"Annual 2023 United Van Lines National Movers Study," United Van Lines (January 2024)

At HomeLight, our vision is a world where every real estate transaction is simple, certain, and satisfying. Therefore, we promote strict editorial integrity in each of our posts.

Joseph Gordon

Editor

Joseph Gordon is an Editor with HomeLight. He has several years of experience reporting on the commercial real estate and insurance industries.