Cost of living comparison
compared to
Copenhagen vs. Chicago Cost of Living Summary
Copenhagen is 2.1% more expensive than Chicago.
Copenhagen vs. Chicago Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Copenhagen instead of Chicago, you would:
pay 12.9% more for restaurants
|
Chicago
|
Copenhagen
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$21.25
|
$20.97
DKK139.50
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$13.00
|
$13.48
DKK89.68
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.66
|
$5.10
DKK33.90
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.30
|
$3.77
DKK25.04
|
|
Chicago vs. Copenhagen - Cost of restaurants
pay 7.6% more for groceries
|
Chicago
|
Copenhagen
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.92
|
$4.77
DKK31.74
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.07
|
$8.64
DKK57.47
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.97
|
$7.89
DKK52.48
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.78
|
$5.89
DKK39.19
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.65
|
$6.31
DKK41.95
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.39
|
$1.52
DKK10.13
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.89
|
$1.39
DKK9.22
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.87
|
$1.96
DKK13.02
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.21
|
$2.59
DKK17.20
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.24
|
$1.07
DKK7.10
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.23
|
$0.95
DKK6.33
|
|
Chicago vs. Copenhagen - Cost of groceries
pay 58.2% more for transportation
|
Chicago
|
Copenhagen
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.66
|
$9.58
DKK63.75
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$75.00
|
$104.86
DKK697.48
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,531.00
|
$50,184.55
DKK334K
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$14.45
|
$19.03
DKK126.54
|
|
Chicago vs. Copenhagen - Cost of transportation
pay 15.5% less for housing
|
Chicago
|
Copenhagen
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$61.13
|
$37.42
DKK248.91
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,400.00
|
$1,981.79
DKK13,181.29
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,679.31
|
$1,454.31
DKK9,672.90
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$147.87
|
$138.83
DKK923.39
|
|
Chicago vs. Copenhagen - Cost of housing
pay 58.4% less for childcare
|
Chicago
|
Copenhagen
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,536.88
|
$977.91
DKK6,504.25
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$31,537.78
|
$8,580.66
DKK57,071.67
|
|
Chicago vs. Copenhagen - Cost of childcare
pay 11.8% more for entertainment and sports
|
Chicago
|
Copenhagen
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$7.00
|
$8.99
DKK59.78
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.70
|
$6.97
DKK46.39
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$16.00
|
$9.44
DKK62.77
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$53.47
|
$64.00
DKK425.70
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$18.00
|
$20.22
DKK134.51
|
|
Chicago vs. Copenhagen - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 31.8% more for clothing
|
Chicago
|
Copenhagen
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$66.94
|
$108.66
DKK722.72
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$51.67
|
$53.68
DKK357.04
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$99.58
|
$128.48
DKK854.58
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$143.78
|
$199.12
DKK1,324.38
|
|
Chicago vs. Copenhagen - 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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Compare further: Chicago vs. Copenhagen
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cost of living in United States vs. Denmark.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within United States and Denmark.
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