Cost of living comparison
compared to
Jersey City vs. Chicago Cost of Living Summary
Jersey City is 0.9% more expensive than Chicago.
Jersey City vs. Chicago Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Jersey City instead of Chicago, you would:
pay 12.6% less for restaurants
|
Chicago
|
Jersey City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$20.50
|
$18.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$13.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.96
|
$2.28
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.33
|
$1.78
|
|
Chicago vs. Jersey City - Cost of restaurants
pay 12.5% more for groceries
|
Chicago
|
Jersey City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.01
|
$4.05
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.05
|
$8.73
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.30
|
$4.83
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.02
|
$5.33
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.55
|
$5.62
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.31
|
$2.87
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.79
|
$0.89
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.85
|
$2.16
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.09
|
$2.37
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.16
|
$1.41
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.26
|
$1.51
|
|
Chicago vs. Jersey City - Cost of groceries
pay 17.1% more for transportation
|
Chicago
|
Jersey City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.81
|
$3.30
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$75.00
|
$110.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,691.85
|
$35,911.24
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$14.43
|
$19.40
|
|
Chicago vs. Jersey City - Cost of transportation
pay 14.1% more for housing
|
Chicago
|
Jersey City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$65.83
|
$63.75
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,418.00
|
$3,437.50
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,692.50
|
$2,442.86
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$141.41
|
$103.54
|
|
Chicago vs. Jersey City - Cost of housing
pay 14.8% less for childcare
|
Chicago
|
Jersey City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,050.00
|
$2,250.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$39,114.29
|
$23,666.67
|
|
Chicago vs. Jersey City - Cost of childcare
pay 10.9% less for entertainment and sports
|
Chicago
|
Jersey City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$7.00
|
$7.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.53
|
$5.50
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$17.00
|
$11.98
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$71.80
|
$66.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$18.00
|
$17.00
|
|
Chicago vs. Jersey City - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 0.6% more for clothing
|
Chicago
|
Jersey City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$64.24
|
$67.90
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$49.62
|
$63.33
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$99.48
|
$77.50
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$146.50
|
$133.75
|
|
Chicago vs. Jersey City - Cost of clothing
The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you.
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world.
Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: October 2026
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