Cost of living comparison
compared to
Helsinki vs. Chicago Cost of Living Summary
Helsinki is 24.8% cheaper than Chicago.
Helsinki vs. Chicago Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Helsinki instead of Chicago, you would:
pay 2.7% less for restaurants
|
Chicago
|
Helsinki
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$21.25
|
$17.92
€15.99
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$13.00
|
$13.44
€11.99
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.66
|
$3.45
€3.08
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.30
|
$2.59
€2.31
|
|
Chicago vs. Helsinki - Cost of restaurants
pay 27.7% less for groceries
|
Chicago
|
Helsinki
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.92
|
$2.76
€2.46
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.07
|
$4.96
€4.42
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.97
|
$5.08
€4.54
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.78
|
$3.93
€3.51
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.65
|
$6.02
€5.37
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.39
|
$1.26
€1.12
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.89
|
$0.99
€0.88
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.87
|
$1.12
€1.00
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.21
|
$1.77
€1.58
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.24
|
$0.55
€0.49
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.23
|
$0.74
€0.66
|
|
Chicago vs. Helsinki - Cost of groceries
pay 36.1% more for transportation
|
Chicago
|
Helsinki
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.66
|
$8.89
€7.93
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$75.00
|
$81.74
€72.96
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,531.00
|
$36,622.07
€32,689.52
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$14.45
|
$26.34
€23.51
|
|
Chicago vs. Helsinki - Cost of transportation
pay 46.2% less for housing
|
Chicago
|
Helsinki
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$61.13
|
$24.77
€22.11
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,400.00
|
$1,207.26
€1,077.62
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,679.31
|
$904.00
€806.93
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$147.87
|
$104.89
€93.62
|
|
Chicago vs. Helsinki - Cost of housing
pay 64.7% less for childcare
|
Chicago
|
Helsinki
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,536.88
|
$476.51
€425.34
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$31,537.78
|
$12,685.20
€11,323.04
|
|
Chicago vs. Helsinki - Cost of childcare
pay 1.7% more for entertainment and sports
|
Chicago
|
Helsinki
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$7.00
|
$10.08
€9.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.70
|
$5.23
€4.67
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$16.00
|
$14.00
€12.49
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$53.47
|
$46.96
€41.92
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$18.00
|
$18.48
€16.49
|
|
Chicago vs. Helsinki - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 6.2% more for clothing
|
Chicago
|
Helsinki
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$66.94
|
$92.46
€82.53
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$51.67
|
$43.55
€38.87
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$99.58
|
$104.85
€93.59
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$143.78
|
$149.45
€133.40
|
|
Chicago vs. Helsinki - 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. Helsinki
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cost of living in United States vs. Finland.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within United States and Finland.
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