Chicago vs New York
Metro-area medians — Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metro Area vs New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area — not the cities proper.
Chicago comes out ahead, winning 5 of the 8 clearly-decided measures.
Chicago is about 9% cheaper to live in, while New York households earn about 10% more. Adjusted for local prices, a typical paycheck stretches about as far in either.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you, Chicago leaves you about $4,259/yr better off after tax and local prices.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
Choose Chicago for
- + Cost of living (price level, US = 100)
- + Median rent
- + Median home value
- + Unemployment
- + Average commute
Choose New York for
- + Median household income
- + Bachelor's degree or higher
- + Air quality (median AQI)
Chicago vs New York — frequently asked
- Is Chicago cheaper than New York?
- Chicago is cheaper: its overall cost of living runs about 9% below New York's (BEA Regional Price Parities).
- Which has higher household income, Chicago or New York?
- New York has the higher median household income — $99,852 versus $90,770 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 10% more.
- Does a paycheck go further in Chicago or New York?
- It is roughly a wash. After adjusting income for local prices, a typical paycheck is worth about the same in both metros ($87,620 versus $88,708).
- Which has cheaper rent, Chicago or New York?
- Chicago has cheaper rent — a median of $1,469/mo versus $1,851/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).