Cost of living comparison
compared to
Chicago vs. Fort Wayne Cost of Living Summary
Chicago is 45.1% more expensive than Fort Wayne.
Chicago vs. Fort Wayne Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Chicago instead of Fort Wayne, you would:
pay 19.9% more for restaurants
|
Fort Wayne
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$16.00
|
$20.50
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.00
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.33
|
$2.96
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.23
|
$2.33
|
|
Fort Wayne vs. Chicago - Cost of restaurants
pay 19.3% more for groceries
|
Fort Wayne
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.99
|
$4.01
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$8.45
|
$7.05
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.03
|
$4.30
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.40
|
$5.02
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.35
|
$6.55
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.46
|
$2.31
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.56
|
$0.79
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.58
|
$1.85
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.32
|
$2.09
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.97
|
$1.16
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.37
|
$1.26
|
|
Fort Wayne vs. Chicago - Cost of groceries
pay 38.9% more for transportation
|
Fort Wayne
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.19
|
$3.81
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$32.50
|
$75.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$31,965.00
|
$35,691.85
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$15.43
|
$14.43
|
|
Fort Wayne vs. Chicago - Cost of transportation
pay 45.9% more for housing
|
Fort Wayne
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$70.62
|
$65.83
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,233.33
|
$2,418.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,016.67
|
$1,692.50
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$110.66
|
$141.41
|
|
Fort Wayne vs. Chicago - Cost of housing
pay 2.0 times more for childcare
|
Fort Wayne
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$955.56
|
$2,050.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$20,000.00
|
$39,114.29
|
|
Fort Wayne vs. Chicago - Cost of childcare
pay 57.6% more for entertainment and sports
|
Fort Wayne
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$4.25
|
$7.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.47
|
$5.53
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$8.26
|
$17.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$50.00
|
$71.80
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$12.00
|
$18.00
|
|
Fort Wayne vs. Chicago - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 28.8% more for clothing
|
Fort Wayne
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$51.00
|
$64.24
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$37.00
|
$49.62
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$91.67
|
$99.48
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$100.00
|
$146.50
|
|
Fort Wayne vs. Chicago - 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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