Cost of living comparison
compared to
Tuscaloosa vs. Chicago Cost of Living Summary
Tuscaloosa is 23.1% cheaper than Chicago.
Tuscaloosa vs. Chicago Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Tuscaloosa instead of Chicago, you would:
pay 22.8% less for restaurants
|
Chicago
|
Tuscaloosa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$21.25
|
$17.50
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$13.00
|
$9.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.66
|
$2.38
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.30
|
$1.69
|
|
Chicago vs. Tuscaloosa - Cost of restaurants
pay 11.4% more for groceries
|
Chicago
|
Tuscaloosa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.92
|
$3.67
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.07
|
$6.24
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.97
|
$4.15
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.78
|
$4.29
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.65
|
$6.47
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.39
|
$2.98
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.89
|
$0.74
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.87
|
$5.00
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.21
|
$3.10
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.24
|
$1.27
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.23
|
$1.68
|
|
Chicago vs. Tuscaloosa - Cost of groceries
pay 8.4% less for transportation
|
Chicago
|
Tuscaloosa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.66
|
$3.43
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$75.00
|
?? | |
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,531.00
|
$37,359.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$14.45
|
$20.53
|
|
Chicago vs. Tuscaloosa - Cost of transportation
pay 40.5% less for housing
|
Chicago
|
Tuscaloosa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$61.13
|
$61.67
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,400.00
|
$1,227.67
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,679.31
|
$969.80
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$147.87
|
$120.06
|
|
Chicago vs. Tuscaloosa - Cost of housing
pay 25.2% less for childcare
|
Chicago
|
Tuscaloosa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,536.88
|
$1,083.33
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$31,537.78
|
$25,000.00
|
|
Chicago vs. Tuscaloosa - Cost of childcare
pay 11.8% less for entertainment and sports
|
Chicago
|
Tuscaloosa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$7.00
|
$6.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.70
|
$5.40
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$16.00
|
$8.44
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$53.47
|
$59.33
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$18.00
|
$15.00
|
|
Chicago vs. Tuscaloosa - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 42.5% less for clothing
|
Chicago
|
Tuscaloosa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$66.94
|
$41.67
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$51.67
|
$31.50
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$99.58
|
$55.67
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$143.78
|
$74.00
|
|
Chicago vs. Tuscaloosa - 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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