Cost of living comparison
compared to
Santa Ana vs. Chicago Cost of Living Summary
Santa Ana is 2.3% cheaper than Chicago.
Santa Ana vs. Chicago Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Santa Ana instead of Chicago, you would:
pay 0.5% less for restaurants
|
Chicago
|
Santa Ana
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$20.50
|
$20.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$15.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.96
|
$2.65
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.33
|
$2.00
|
|
Chicago vs. Santa Ana - Cost of restaurants
pay 7.0% more for groceries
|
Chicago
|
Santa Ana
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.01
|
$4.07
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.05
|
$6.10
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.30
|
$4.28
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.02
|
$6.26
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.55
|
$7.09
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.31
|
$2.37
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.79
|
$0.77
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.85
|
$1.84
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.09
|
$2.53
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.16
|
$1.51
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.26
|
$1.32
|
|
Chicago vs. Santa Ana - Cost of groceries
pay 56.5% more for transportation
|
Chicago
|
Santa Ana
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.81
|
$4.74
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$75.00
|
$68.50
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,691.85
|
$32,000.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$14.43
|
$46.29
|
|
Chicago vs. Santa Ana - Cost of transportation
pay 2.3% less for housing
|
Chicago
|
Santa Ana
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$65.83
|
$60.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,418.00
|
$2,333.33
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,692.50
|
$2,000.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$141.41
|
$120.42
|
|
Chicago vs. Santa Ana - Cost of housing
pay 41.2% less for childcare
|
Chicago
|
Santa Ana
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,050.00
|
$1,206.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$39,114.29
|
?? | |
Chicago vs. Santa Ana - Cost of childcare
pay 17.2% less for entertainment and sports
|
Chicago
|
Santa Ana
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$7.00
|
$7.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.53
|
$5.71
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$17.00
|
$11.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$71.80
|
$57.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$18.00
|
$15.10
|
|
Chicago vs. Santa Ana - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 18.2% less for clothing
|
Chicago
|
Santa Ana
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$64.24
|
$54.27
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$49.62
|
$34.67
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$99.48
|
$102.33
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$146.50
|
$102.25
|
|
Chicago vs. Santa Ana - 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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