Cost of living comparison

United States

compared to

Netherlands

The Hague (Den Haag) vs. Chicago Cost of Living Summary

The Hague (Den Haag) is 7.0% cheaper than Chicago.

Restaurants: pay 20.2% more in The Hague (Den Haag)
Groceries: pay 27.9% less in The Hague (Den Haag)
Transportation: pay 53.6% more in The Hague (Den Haag)
Housing: pay 18.9% less in The Hague (Den Haag)
Childcare: pay 23.2% less in The Hague (Den Haag)
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.1% less in The Hague (Den Haag)
Clothing: pay 5.1% more in The Hague (Den Haag)

The cost of transportation, restaurants, and clothing in The Hague (Den Haag) are more expensive than in Chicago. Expenses including groceries, childcare, housing, and entertainment and sports are lower in The Hague (Den Haag).

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The Hague (Den Haag) vs. Chicago Cost Breakdown

If you lived in The Hague (Den Haag) instead of Chicago, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 20.2% more for restaurants

	Chicago	The Hague (Den Haag)
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$21.25	$22.39 €19.93	+5.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$13.00	$15.14 €13.48	+16.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.66	$4.24 €3.77	+59.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.30	$4.20 €3.74	+82.6%
Average			+20.2%

Chicago vs. The Hague (Den Haag) - Cost of restaurants

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pay 27.9% less for groceries

	Chicago	The Hague (Den Haag)
Bread 1 loaf	$3.92	$2.25 €2.01	-42.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.07	$7.34 €6.53	+3.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.97	$5.61 €4.99	+12.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.78	$4.49 €4.00	-6.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.65	$5.90 €5.25	-11.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.39	$1.19 €1.06	-50.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.89	$1.01 €0.90	+13.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.87	$0.91 €0.81	-51.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.21	$1.65 €1.47	-25.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.24	$0.61 €0.54	-51.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.23	$0.59 €0.53	-51.6%
Average			-27.9%

Chicago vs. The Hague (Den Haag) - Cost of groceries

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pay 53.6% more for transportation

	Chicago	The Hague (Den Haag)
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.66	$9.81 €8.73	+110.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$75.00	$92.38 €82.22	+23.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,531.00	$41,419.02 €36,864.42	+13.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.45	$31.97 €28.45	+121.2%
Average			+53.6%

Chicago vs. The Hague (Den Haag) - Cost of transportation

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pay 18.9% less for housing

	Chicago	The Hague (Den Haag)
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.13	$54.98 €48.93	-10.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,400.00	$1,637.61 €1,457.53	-31.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,679.31	$1,287.70 €1,146.10	-23.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$147.87	$213.06 €189.63	+44.1%
Average			-18.9%

Chicago vs. The Hague (Den Haag) - Cost of housing

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pay 23.2% less for childcare

	Chicago	The Hague (Den Haag)
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,536.88	$2,433.81 €2,166.18	+58.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$31,537.78	$11,757.22 €10,464.35	-62.7%
Average			-23.2%

Chicago vs. The Hague (Den Haag) - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Chicago	The Hague (Den Haag)
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.00	$7.28 €6.48	+4.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.70	$4.37 €3.89	-23.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$16.00	$14.56 €12.96	-9.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.47	$50.89 €45.29	-4.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$18.00	$16.80 €14.95	-6.7%
Average			-8.1%

Chicago vs. The Hague (Den Haag) - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.1% more for clothing

	Chicago	The Hague (Den Haag)
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$66.94	$94.97 €84.52	+41.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$51.67	$43.25 €38.49	-16.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.58	$106.75 €95.01	+7.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$143.78	$137.80 €122.64	-4.2%
Average			+5.1%

Chicago vs. The Hague (Den Haag) - Cost of clothing

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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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