Cost of living comparison

Argentina

compared to

United States

Chicago vs. Buenos Aires Cost of Living Summary

Chicago is 77.1% more expensive than Buenos Aires.

Restaurants: pay 12.3% more in Chicago
Groceries: pay 66.5% more in Chicago
Transportation: pay 38.1% more in Chicago
Housing: pay 2.6 times more in Chicago
Childcare: pay 3.4 times more in Chicago
Entertainment and Sports: pay 61.6% more in Chicago
Clothing: pay 28.1% less in Chicago

The cost of childcare, housing, groceries, entertainment and sports, transportation, and restaurants in Chicago are more expensive than in Buenos Aires. Notably, childcare and housing are significantly more expensive in Chicago.

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Chicago vs. Buenos Aires Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Chicago instead of Buenos Aires, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 12.3% more for restaurants

	Buenos Aires	Chicago
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$19.02 ARS28,867.92	$21.25	+11.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.96 ARS19,666.72	$13.00	+0.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.01 ARS3,046.07	$2.66	+32.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.59 ARS2,416.19	$2.30	+44.6%
Average			+12.3%

Buenos Aires vs. Chicago - Cost of restaurants

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pay 66.5% more for groceries

	Buenos Aires	Chicago
Bread 1 loaf	$2.48 ARS3,760.09	$3.92	+58.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.25 ARS7,963.70	$7.07	+34.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.52 ARS8,377.38	$4.97	-9.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.81 ARS4,263.39	$4.78	+70.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.60 ARS6,980.92	$6.65	+44.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.28 ARS1,941.94	$2.39	+86.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.97 ARS1,476.56	$0.89	-8.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.65 ARS986.85	$1.87	+187.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.92 ARS1,393.21	$2.21	+140.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.56 ARS848.67	$1.24	+121.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.56 ARS844.69	$1.23	+120.2%
Average			+66.5%

Buenos Aires vs. Chicago - Cost of groceries

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pay 38.1% more for transportation

	Buenos Aires	Chicago
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.28 ARS8,007.72	$4.66	-11.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.50 ARS41,740.44	$75.00	+172.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,500.00 ARS43M	$36,531.00	+28.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.60 ARS14,571.21	$14.45	+50.5%
Average			+38.1%

Buenos Aires vs. Chicago - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.6 times more for housing

	Buenos Aires	Chicago
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$31.11 ARS47,221.65	$61.13	+96.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$770.79 ARS1M	$2,400.00	+211.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$509.75 ARS774K	$1,679.31	+229.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$162.43 ARS247K	$147.87	-9.0%
Average			+158.8%

Buenos Aires vs. Chicago - Cost of housing

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pay 3.4 times more for childcare

	Buenos Aires	Chicago
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$464.87 ARS706K	$1,536.88	+230.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,896.36 ARS14M	$31,537.78	+254.5%
Average			+242.3%

Buenos Aires vs. Chicago - Cost of childcare

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pay 61.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Buenos Aires	Chicago
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.95 ARS6,000.81	$7.00	+77.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.86 ARS5,864.38	$5.70	+47.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.21 ARS6,386.52	$16.00	+280.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.97 ARS75,852.96	$53.47	+7.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.38 ARS15,758.71	$18.00	+73.4%
Average			+61.6%

Buenos Aires vs. Chicago - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 28.1% less for clothing

	Buenos Aires	Chicago
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$120.49 ARS183K	$66.94	-44.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$95.69 ARS145K	$51.67	-46.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$115.94 ARS176K	$99.58	-14.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$138.37 ARS210K	$143.78	+3.9%
Average			-28.1%

Buenos Aires vs. Chicago - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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Buenos Aires is about 2.9 times smaller than Chicago.

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