Cost of living comparison
compared to
Columbia vs. Chicago Cost of Living Summary
Columbia is 1.9% cheaper than Chicago.
Columbia vs. Chicago Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Columbia instead of Chicago, you would:
pay 6.9% less for restaurants
|
Chicago
|
Columbia
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$21.25
|
$18.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$13.00
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.66
|
$3.17
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.30
|
$2.64
|
|
Chicago vs. Columbia - Cost of restaurants
pay 10.5% more for groceries
|
Chicago
|
Columbia
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.92
|
$4.11
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.07
|
$6.61
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.97
|
$4.95
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.78
|
$5.24
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.65
|
$7.63
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.39
|
$3.17
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.89
|
$0.70
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.87
|
$2.58
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.21
|
$2.64
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.24
|
$1.25
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.23
|
$1.73
|
|
Chicago vs. Columbia - Cost of groceries
pay 20.0% less for transportation
|
Chicago
|
Columbia
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.66
|
$4.01
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$75.00
|
$40.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,531.00
|
$36,375.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$14.45
|
$12.79
|
|
Chicago vs. Columbia - Cost of transportation
pay 1.0% more for housing
|
Chicago
|
Columbia
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$61.13
|
$77.77
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,400.00
|
$2,100.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,679.31
|
$1,850.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$147.87
|
$161.22
|
|
Chicago vs. Columbia - Cost of housing
pay 20.0% more for childcare
|
Chicago
|
Columbia
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,536.88
|
$2,000.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$31,537.78
|
$34,903.57
|
|
Chicago vs. Columbia - Cost of childcare
pay 7.5% less for entertainment and sports
|
Chicago
|
Columbia
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$7.00
|
$7.50
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.70
|
$5.27
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$16.00
|
$13.94
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$53.47
|
$50.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$18.00
|
$15.00
|
|
Chicago vs. Columbia - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 7.2% less for clothing
|
Chicago
|
Columbia
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$66.94
|
$52.30
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$51.67
|
$63.14
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$99.58
|
$100.00
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$143.78
|
$111.15
|
|
Chicago vs. Columbia - Cost of clothing
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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